Adolescence star Owen Cooper becomes youngest-ever best supporting actor in a limited series winner at Emmys 2025

British TV drama Adolescence star Owen Cooper has made history at this year’s Emmys by becoming the youngest ever actor to win the award for best supporting actor in a limited series.

The actor was 14 at the time of filming, and the show marked his first professional credit. He played the role of Jamie Miller in the series, a teenage boy arrested for the murder of a female classmate.

The series won awards in every of its categories, including accolades for his co-stars Stephen Graham and Erin Doherty, as well as director Philip Baranti.

Adolescence earned 140m views in its first three months on Netflix, and was acclaimed for both the treatment of its subject matter but for its technical prowess, with each episode being shot in one take.

Collecting his award on stage, Cooper said: “Honestly, when I started these drama classes a couple years back, I didn’t expect to be even in the United States, never mind here.”

He went on the thank his family as well as co-star and show co-creator Graham: “It may have my name on this award, but it really belongs to the people behind the camera and Stephen and … all the cast.”

The record for youngest Emmy winner is held by Roxana Zal, who won in 1984, at the age of 14, for her role in the television movie Something About Amelia.

Cooper was up against his Adolescence co-star Ashley Walters, Javier Bardem for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Bill Camp and Peter Sarsgaard for Presumed Innocent and Rob Delaney for Dying for Sex.