At the 77th Emmy Awards 2025, Owen Cooper created history as the youngest-ever male to bag the award in any acting category. At just 15 years old, the child actor won best supporting actor in a limited/anthology series or TV movie for his work in the Netflix series Adolescence.
Previously, Scott Jacoby held the record, after winning the Primetime Emmy in 1973 at 16 years old, for his role in That Certain Summer. As Cooper picked up the award in downtown Los Angeles and said, "Standing up here… wow, this is so surreal. Tonight proves that if you listen and you focus and you step out of your comfort, you can achieve anything in life.”
In Adolescence, Cooper captured the attention of audiences as an adolescent killer, whose character goes through a brilliant emotional arc. He further added, “I was nothing about three years ago; I’m here now. It may have my name on this award, but it really belongs to the people behind the camera and all the cast.” The series also stars Stephen Graham, Christine Tremarco, Erin Doherty and Ashley Walters.
A global conversation on the online "manosphere" was kickstarted, thanks to Adolescence, as the show established that Jamie's time online shaped his ideology towards normalising the murder of a female classmate.
The series took home Emmys for Stephen Graham in Lead Actor and Writing (alongside Jack Thorne), Owen Cooper for Supporting Actor, Erin Doherty for Supporting Actress, and Philip Barantini for Directing. It also secured wins in the overall Directing and Writing categories.
The 77th Emmy Awards ceremony took place at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, with Nate Bargatze as the host. The event was broadcast live on CBS and streamed on Paramount+.
