Fifteen-year-old Owen Cooper could make Emmy history if he wins the supporting actor award at the Television Academy's ceremony, where his performance in Netflix's hit limited series Adolescence helped the show secure 13 nominations.
Cooper, who was 14 when the series was filmed, is nominated in the category for Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his portrayal of Jamie Miller, a troubled teenager accused of murder. A win would make him the youngest male Emmy recipient in the awards' 76-year history; the current record is held by Scott Jacoby, who was 16 when he won a supporting-actor Emmy in 1973.
The Warrington schoolboy attended pre-Emmy events in Los Angeles accompanied by his mother, Noreen, a carer, and his father, Andy, who works in IT. He told reporters at one event he would "never forget this for the rest of my life" and said he had not expected the series to have such an impact. Cooper was the subject of attention at Netflix's pre-Emmy toast alongside co-stars including Stephen Graham and Ashley Walters.
Adolescence, a dark drama about a teenager accused of murder, has been widely praised and recently won two major prizes at the 2025 National TV Awards, including Best New Drama. At that ceremony Cooper won the Best Drama Performance award; he did not attend the UK event because he had travelled to the United States for Emmy week. His co-star Amari Bacchus accepted the NTA on Cooper's behalf and shared a video message in which Cooper thanked colleagues and viewers.
Cooper faces established actors in the Emmy supporting-actor category, including Javier Bardem for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Bill Camp for Presumed Innocent, Peter Sarsgaard for Presumed Innocent and Rob Delaney for Dying for Sex. His Adolescence co-star Ashley Walters is also nominated in the same category for his portrayal of Detective Luke Bascombe.
The series is additionally nominated for Best Limited or Anthology Series, competing with Black Mirror, Dying for Sex, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and The Penguin. Stephen Graham, who plays Cooper's father in Adolescence, is among other nominees from the show, up for a lead-actor prize.
British talent features across this year's Emmy field, with nominations for Gary Oldman (Slow Horses), Aimee Lou Wood and Jason Isaacs (The White Lotus), Colin Farrell (The Penguin) and Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us). Actors and creatives from the British television community attended industry events in Los Angeles in the days leading up to the awards.
Adolescence's run on streaming has translated into awards-season momentum, drawing attention for its performances and its depiction of a fraught criminal case centred on a teenager. The Television Academy's winners will determine whether Cooper sets a new age record and whether the series converts a large portion of its nominations into trophies.