Owen Cooper may be new to your screen, debuting his first acting role as Jamie Miller in “Adolescence,” but he’s already captivating audiences.

Cooper’s performance as a 13-year-old accused of murdering his classmate has been praised by fans and critics alike. Jamie appears to flicker back and forth between a helpless child and an angry young man capable of murder, constantly throwing characters, and audiences, off.

Anita Singh of The Telegraph wrote that Cooper gives a “truly remarkable performance” and social media has been ablaze with users applauding his role.

“Watching #adolescencenetflix and this kid Owen Cooper… not only is this his first acting gig but every episode of this show is shot in ONE continuous take… he is gonna have an Oscar one day he is f—ing incredible!” one X user tweeted.

How did this rising star get to where he is? What do his cast mates think about his performance? Read on to see.

How old is Owen Cooper?

“Adolescence” filmed from March to September 2024, when Cooper was 14 years old. Cooper is currently 15, which Stephen Graham, the show’s co-creator, co-writer and star, confirmed to TODAY on March 21.

Acting wasn’t always Cooper’s dream. Originally, he told Variety, he wanted to be a professional soccer player, but felt compelled to take acting lessons years ago.

“I don’t know what it was that made me want to do it, but I just wanted to do it,” he said.

After signing with an agency, his self-tape for “Adolescence” launched his career.

What has Owen Cooper said about ‘Adolescence’?

Cooper told Vanity Fair that he is the “complete opposite” of Jamie, but he had to put himself in Jamie’s shoes for the part. Cooper detailed filming the scene in which his onscreen parents Eddie (Stephen Graham) and Manda Miller (Christine Tremarco) first see Jamie get arrested.

“Steven and Christine are banging on the window, saying, ‘We’re here!’” Cooper told Vanity Fair. “And, I don’t know, that just really got me … I looked at them as my mum and dad. It made me think I was all on my own and I was just isolated from all my parents. So I don’t really think of it as being Jamie. I think of it as myself in that situation.”

In a video shared by Netflix, Cooper reacted to his own audition tape — cringing at the acting and his hair.

Owen Cooper and Erin Doherty react to Owen’s audition tape for Jamie in Adolescence. pic.twitter.com/uanxDbluHa

— Netflix (@netflix) March 23, 2025

“I hated that,” Cooper said, watching the moment back.

Despite disliking watching himself at his audition, Cooper told Variety that he’s watched his performance in the show.

“Everyone’s been saying such nice things,” he said. “My agent has seen it and she said it was really good. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t really watch it like I’m watching a normal show. I just watch it because I’m in it. So, I don’t know. But everyone who has spoken to me has said it’s amazing. So yeah, I’ve heard positive things.”

Each episode of “Adolescence” was shot in one take – a challenge for any actor. But Cooper said in a video for Netflix that if he could, he would always film in that style.

“Because when you’re like cutting and stopping and stuff, you wouldn’t get that full — you wouldn’t get the full emotion,” he said.

Cooper told Vogue that he only had two weeks to learn all the lines.

“I still question how I did that, to be honest … There was so much highlighting you could barely read the lines,” he said.

What have the cast and creators of ‘Adolescence’ said about Owen Cooper?

Stephen Graham, the series’ co-creator, co-writer and star, told TODAY producers auditioned “over 500 young boys” for the part of Jamie. They wanted to cast an unknown actor to “create an opportunity for someone,” he said — and Cooper was the perfect fit.

“He came and he was off book, he’s just phenomenal,” Graham said.

Cooper’s first day on set was filming Episode 3, a conversation between Jamie and therapist Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty).

The scene took 11 takes and resulted in a harrowing performance from Cooper. In the scene, Jamie appears to unmask himself and show how he might be capable of taking someone’s life. Doherty called the performance “genuinely scary.”

“I’m so proud of Owen because I got to see him push himself as an actor, to really go there,” she said. “Back then, he was this kid and he didn’t want to be this scary thing, especially with someone he just met. So, we really had to work on creating this safe space to let him know that he’s going to be fine. To think about that kid versus the one that turned up in that 11th take, and push those buttons and pushed himself, I’m just so proud.”

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Graham compared Cooper’s performance in “Adolescence” to Ed Norton’s breakout in “Primal Fear,” and said that Cooper reminded him of a young Jodie Comer.

“What I saw in Owen was the exact same thing I saw in Jodie Comer when Jodie was 17,” he said. “I saw the same kind of ability, the same kind of natural talent, and just a real presence … He just blew my mind.”

“Adolescence” director Philip Barantini praised Cooper’s performance to Variety, saying, “Actors train for years and years and still can’t really master what Owen has done.”

What’s next for Owen Cooper?

The actor already has two more roles lined up.

Cooper is set to appear as Callum in an upcoming TV miniseries called “Film Club” which is about sparks flying between two film club members. It’s set to debut this year on BBC iPlayer and BBC Three and is written by Aimee Lou Wood, who is currently starring in Season 3 of “The White Lotus.”

Cooper has also been tapped to play young Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of “Wuthering Heights.” The older version of Heathcliff will be played by Jacob Elordi, starring opposite Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw.

Cooper told Variety that Graham helped him land the role of Healthcliff. Graham recommended Cooper to his agent, then gave the agent Episode 1 of “Adolescence” to watch.

“I got ‘Wuthering Heights’ from that!” Cooper said.