Adolescence star, 15, wins big at Gotham TV Awards after getting the day off school
Adolescence star Owen Cooper won big for his portrayal of a young murder suspect.
On Monday, Cooper, 15, became the winner of the Gotham TV Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Limited Series.
Cooper, who got the day off from school before attending the show, tied for the award with Dying of Sex star Jenny Slate, 43.
Taking the stage to accept the gong on Monday at New York City, Cooper drew laughter as he thanked his parents for 'creating' him and heaped praise on his co-star Erin Doherty, 32, who played psychologist Briony Ariston and was also nominated for the same award.
'Main person that I have to thank is Erin, who is also nominated for this award. That episode that we did together, it was easy to do it with you and it was such an honor to share this, share this award with you. You deserve this award just as much as I do, so round of applause for Erin please,' he said, getting the crowd to clap.
'And I also want to thank Philip Barantini, Joe Johnson, Stephen Graham and I want to thank Hannah Walters. I just want to thank everyone that was part of the Adolescence cast and crew, everyone that was there,' he said.
'Who else, my parents for creating me. Yeah but that's about it. Thanks to Gotham awards for handing me this award.'
Adolescence was nominated for four Gotham awards and won three of them -Breakthrough Limited Series, Outstanding Lead Performance in a Limited Series for Stephen Graham, and Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Limited Series for Owen (the fourth nomination was for Erin, who lost to her co-star).
It's not the first award Cooper has received for his portrayal of the troubled young teen, with the actor also winning the Breakthrough Award from the IndieWire Honors.
Cooper's role has also earned him a nomination for one of the biggest honors in TV - the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
If he wins, the sensation would be the youngest ever male winner in the 76-year-old history of the 'TV Oscars'.
Experts hailed the 'genius move' of placing Cooper in Supporting, as opposed to Best Actor, which they said would massively boost his chances of winning.
Despite experts calling Owen a 'lock-in' for the award, the modest teenager recently said he was just focused on succeeding at school rather than winning awards.
Owen Cooper accepts the #GothamAward for Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Limited Series: "I want to thank my parents for creating me." pic.twitter.com/LZh5Fb7CcW
— Variety (@Variety) June 3, 2025
'That's, like, next-level. This time last year, I didn't know what I'd be doing. It's just crazy how fast it's come around. It's an honour to be even in that conversation for an Emmy.
'I just focus on what I've gotta do at the moment, you know? I'm focusing on school, so that's just all outside noise for me at the minute,' he told Extra TV.
The Brit's main competition in his category is Javier Bardem, who starred in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and was initially the bookies' favourite.
Speaking to Gold Derby last month about the prospect of gaining recognition with awards, Owen said: 'If that was to be the case, it's definitely a massive achievement and it's the next step in my life. I'll just take it and move on.
'It's one of them things that will forever be there and I'll never forget it for the rest of my life.'
And he deflected the praise back to the team who surrounded him on the show.
'It's all rooted from Stephen [Graham], Hannah [Walters, the producer], Phil [Barantini, the director], Jo Johnson the producer, it's all from them. I couldn't have done it without them,' he said.
Cooper, who hails from a proudly working class estate in central Warrington, was chosen from 500 candidates for the role of Jamie. It was his first-ever acting job and no one in his family has a background in the industry.
He is being supported on his meteoric rise by dad Andy, an IT worker, and mum Noreen, a carer.
Brand and culture expert Nick Ede predicted Owen could follow in Timothée Chalamet's footsteps and become 'the toast of Hollywood'.
He told MailOnline: 'The phenomenal success of Adolescence has taken the TV world by storm and critics have been raving about Owen's stand-out performance.
'The Hollywood elite love a rags-to-riches story and, at 15 and his first ever role, this young actor who was brought up in humble surroundings could soon become Hollywood's hottest property and follow the path of many other child stars who have become household names, like Millie Bobby Brown or Timothee Chalamet.
'I'm sure writers will already be presenting his agents with scripts and synopsis that will feature him.
'As he's so young I am sure he will be looked after and not thrust into the limelight without any support.
'Being a star in the UK is very different from being an international phenomenon. I am sure the offers will be rolling in from feature films to brand deals and beyond.
'He will probably feel a lot of pressure, but also feel a massive sense of achievement from where he has come from to where he is now.'
The Emmy awards ceremony will take place in LA in September.
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