Emmy win for young Adolescence actor sets a new milestone

By Trevor Mogg Published September 14, 2025

Owen Cooper has become the youngest male ever to win an Emmy after bagging an award for his role in the Netflix hit Adolescence. 

Taking place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday night, 15-year-old Cooper won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or TV Movie, beating out competition from Javier Bardem (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story), Bill Camp, (Presumed Innocent), Peter Sarsgaard (Presumed Innocent), Rob Delaney (Dying for Sex), and Ashley Walters (Adolescence).

Accepting his award, the British actor, who was 14 when he filmed Adolescence, said, “Honestly, when I started these drama classes a couple of years back, I didn’t expect to be even in the United States, never mind here.”

Cooper continued, “But I think tonight proves that if you listen and you focus and you step out of your comfort zone, you can achieve anything in life. I was nothing about three years ago and I’m here now … who cares if you get embarrassed? Anything can be possible.”

The actor concluded: “It may have my name on the statue, but it really belongs to all of the people behind the camera and Stephen [Graham, who co-wrote and starred in Adolescence] and all the cast.”

Before Cooper collected the award on Sunday night, the youngest male actor to win an Emmy was Scott Jacoby who, in 1973 at the age of 16, won Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series for The Certain Summer.

Adolescence landed as a Netflix original series in March. The gritty four-part drama depicts the arrest of 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) for the murder of his classmate Katie. The show explores themes of masculinity and social media pressure, as well as misogyny and family trauma. 

A massive hit for Netflix, Adolescence was praised for its emotional depth and one-take episodes, and while all the performances impressed, Cooper’s stood out for its astonishing emotional depth and authenticity. Adolescence remains available on Netflix globally.