Adolescence’s breakout star Owen Cooper says his role in the Netflix drama started with a visit to the headmaster’s office.
Owen Cooper had been attending weekly drama classes at Manchester’s The Drama MOB when he heard that a Netflix drama was casting for its young lead. Despite not knowing much about the project, Cooper sent in a self-tape.
“It was me going into a headmaster’s office. The first clip, I’m going in there guilty but I’ve got to act innocent. The second clip I was going in innocent. I thought [the tape] was terrible!”
The show’s producer’s disagreed, and Cooper was invited to several recalls with director Philip Barantini and actor and co-writer Stephen Graham. “I knew it had to be good, because Stephen Graham’s name was tossed into the mix,” laughs Cooper. “We clicked instantly.”
Cooper was cast as 13-year-old Jamie, who is accused of and imprisoned for murdering a classmate. It is a challenging role for any young actor, let alone a newcomer, made even more so because of the one-take format – a process that involved two weeks of rehearsals and a week of shooting for each of the four hour-long episodes. Cooper was thrown in at the deep end as the first filming period was for episode three, which sees Jamie and his therapist, played by Erin Doherty, having an increasingly intense conversation about his actions.
“I wanted to grab the opportunity with both hands,” says Cooper. “But in rehearsals, I wasn’t comfortable at first. The bit where I’ve got to get close to [Erin], and scare her, that’s not me. I couldn’t do it. But Philip helped me, and Stephen and Erin, and after a couple of days, and a couple of takes, I was fine.”
The pressure increased with the knowledge that any mistakes could derail an entire take. “That’s why I grafted the script, because I didn’t want to be the one [to mess up],” recalls Cooper. “But when I walked on set, I didn’t know anything else other than this one-shot technique. So it was almost natural to me.”
Now 15, Cooper says the reaction to the show has been a surprise. “We knew it was something special, but I don’t think we expected it to blow up like this. When it came out, I was hoping it would get to number one on Netflix in the UK – and it got to number one in about three hours.”
The actor, who will next appear as young Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights and is filming miniseries Film Club for Fremantle, hopes the show will make a lasting impact.
“I want young people to know the consequence of their actions. Jamie thinks he’s all that, he thinks he’s some sick guy. But he’s a little boy in a cell on his own, without his mum and dad. You can act hard, but there’s always a consequence.”
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