Adolescence, a Netflix crime drama and psychological thriller that premiered in March of this year, starred young adult Owen Cooper, who just became the youngest male ever to receive an Emmy Award, at 15 years old.
According to Deadline, the previous holder of this record, Michael E. Goorjian was 24, and won the award in 1994. This is a huge achievement for Cooper, and very much deserved!
I am such a fan of Cooper’s performance as the main character in Adolescence. As difficult as the limited series was to watch, due to the details of the murder for which he was accused and the fact that he was only 13 on the show, I couldn’t help but binge-watch all of the episodes in one day.
I desperately wanted Jamie Miller, Cooper’s character, to get justice for a wrongful accusation. But the more I watched, the more the evidence piled against him. Fans sat on the edge of their couches as they watched Cooper’s character go from being fearful to shifting blame toward others and making misogynistic accusations.
In light of the evidence against Miller, he was sent to juvenile detention, where he was presumed innocent and saw a therapist each week. Meanwhile, the cops investigating the case went to his school to question Miller’s friends and classmates about his relationship with the victim.
Jamie Miller found guilty on Adolescence
As a parent, I couldn’t even imagine what Miller’s parents were going through as they tried to support him through the murder trial. By the end, we saw irrefutable evidence in the form of a video recording. Miller could no longer deny his guilt, but he still tried
Jamie Miller's parents must cope with the fact that their son committed this crime, on top of the fact that he developed a severe mental health disorder—possibly as a result of the bullying he went through, but it could also have been an underlying disorder that went undiagnosed until he committed the murder.
Warnings for parents sprinkled throughout Adolescence
The show also highlighted the dangers of social media for pre-teens, the pressure to fit in at this age, and the nuances of simple forms of communication like emojis. These things have such a heavier weight for young people in a world of technology, instant access to the outside world, and the ease of hiding behind a screen while you take on an entirely new personality in comments, DMs, and anonymous posts.
The ultimate warning for parents is to be fully aware of what your children are doing online and to set appropriate limits. Jamie's parents knew he spent a lot of time in his room on the computer, but they never interfered or intruded on his privacy enough to know what he was doing. Of course, the decision to commit a crime was still his ultimately, but he had free rein of the internet when he was at home.
What's Owen Cooper's next project?
Cooper’s performance on Adolescence was raw, emotional, and even uncomfortable at times because he played the character so well. In his speech at the Emmys, shared in an Instagram post by BBC, Cooper acknowledged the small steps that landed him the role in the series, and his utter shock at winning the award brought him to tears.
Cooper's career is only getting started, so I look forward to seeing what roles he will take on in the near future. Will he stick with thrillers, or will he branch off into action or romance? According to IMDb, we can expect to see him as Young Heathcliff in the premiere of Wuthering Heights, directed by Emerald Fennell, which is set to release in February 2026. All I can say is I hope to see lots more of his work!