Netflix has released Adolescence star Owen Cooper’s audition tape after the young actor’s debut was called ‘superb’.
Earlier this month the 15-year-old actor from Warrington made his first ever on-screen appearance as Jamie Miller, a schoolboy accused of murdering a female classmate.
Acting alongside Stephen Graham, Ashley Walters and Erin Doherty, Owen’s performance has generated significant acclaim.
He’s now sat down to watch back his audition tape for the series but has been left cringing seeing himself during the process.
In a clip released by Netflix on social media, Owen watches his audition alongside co-star Erin, who plays clinical psychologist Briony Ariston.
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The audition saw Owen act out the scene in the police station where Jamie is booked after his arrest.
However, the first thing Erin noticed was Owen’s long hair, with the teenager then putting his face in his hands in embarrassment.
‘How do you feel about watching yourself by the way?’ she began asking before getting distracted and exclaiming: ‘Oh my god, look at you!.’
‘Why is your hair doing that?’ she asked before Owen replied: ‘Because that’s what I… that’s what my head used to look like.’
Jumping in, she reassured him: ‘You’re way cooler now.’
Sharing how impressed she was by the performance, Erin continued: ‘I can’t deal with this. Aw see even then I’m like “Ah no he didn’t do it!”,’ she added, referencing Jamie’s crime.
However, Owen was less impressed, looking at himself and sharing: ‘Aw no, I didn’t even know that got filmed.’
‘Yeah but don’t worry about your hair,’ Erin joked, before he said: ‘No, I’m not bothered about that.’
The pair then had a debate after Erin said the audition was so impressive it could have been used in the show.
‘They could have shot that!’ she said. Although he was convinced she added: ‘Oh come on now. That was great. That’s literally…that’s Jamie.’
Despite Owen saying he ‘hated it’, Erin reassured him he ‘wasn’t meant to like watching yourself back’.
Echoing Erin’s sentiments, many others threw their support behind Owen.
‘He’s going to go far in his acting career if he chooses too,’ Sophie commented on Instagram.
‘What a star. He had no idea just how good he is. It’s clear he’s going to have a huge career in acting. Such a wonderful raw and natural talent,’ Claire shared.
‘The next big star in the making,’ Madhur added.
Owen, who beat out 500 young actors for the role of Jamie, recently spoke about finding the audition ‘daunting’.
‘I was doing acting as a hobby and doing drama lessons, but I didn’t expect anything to come of it but then I got the audition and my head changed,’ he told the Royal Television Society.
‘It was scary at first but then I met Phil [Baranti, the director], Stephen [Graham, who plays his dad Eddie Miller] so I got comfortable pretty quick,’ he added.
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Speaking to Netflix’s Tudum about Owen’s audition, Stephen also shared: ‘When he left the room, I turned around to Phil and Jack [Thorne, screenwriter] and said, “I think that’s him”.’
It’s only been a few weeks since his screen debut however Owen’s already been announced as part of the cast in the upcoming Emerald Fennells’ adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
He is set to play a young Heathcliffe in the movie, which is starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.
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Adolescence is streaming on Netflix.
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