Owen Cooper became the youngest male actor in history to win an Emmy Award for his stirring performance as a young teenager with rage issues, accused of murdering his female classmate in Stephen Graham's recent limited series Adolescence. But that wasn't the only sweet part of the 15-year-old actor's day. Ahead of the awards ceremony, Jake Gyllenhaal made a surprise appearance, much to the shock and disbelief of Cooper.
Cooper's dream of meeting his no.1 fan became true on Sunday as Gyllenhaal greeted Cooper midway during an interview. During the conversation, Cooper was asked how he would react if he met Gyllenhaal at the ceremony and in the middle of earnestly answering, “I don’t know. I’ll just stare at him. I don’t really know.” Moments later, a nervous Gyllenhaal walked in with a small box, surprising Cooper. A heartwarming video shows the two actors greeting each other, with Cooper still looking visibly stunned from being able to meet him.
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Gyllenhaal's gift had a small duck. The Road House actor explained that it was a 'lucky duck' that his friend sent him after he was nominated for an Academy Award for making Brokeback Mountain. "A friend of mine sent me something just like this. It’s a lucky duck. To give you a little bit of luck," he said.
Sharing photos from the meeting on Instagram, Owen wrote, “Honour and a privilege to meet an icon of the game like Jake — will never forget it.” Replying to the post, Gyllenhaal replied, "The honor was mine man. Good luck tonight!!!!" Hours later, Cooper stood on stage, receiving the Emmys.
In Adolescence, Owen Cooper captured the attention of audiences as an adolescent killer, whose character goes through a brilliant emotional arc. 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 limited series. Previously, Scott Jacoby held the record, after winning the Primetime Emmy in 1973 at 16 years old, for his role in That Certain Summer.
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.
