Owen Cooper has officially taken home his first Emmy, winning Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series for his powerful turn in Netflix’s Adolescence. In the acclaimed miniseries, he portrayed Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of his classmate, Katie Leonard.
With this win, Cooper becomes the youngest male winner in any acting category at just 15 years old. The previous record holder was Scott Jacoby, who was 16 when he won for That Certain Summer in 1973.
“Standing up here is just so surreal,” said the Emmy winner. “Honestly, when I started these drama classes, I didn’t expect to be in the U.S. much less here.”
“I was nothing three years ago, I’m here now,” said Cooper as he accepted his trophy.
The young actor beat out fellow contenders Javier Bardem in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Bill Camp in Presumed Innocent, Rob Delaney in Dying for Sex, Peter Sarsgaard in Presumed Innocent, and costar Ashley Walters in Adolescence for the win.
The win makes Cooper the youngest male Emmy winner in history and one of the youngest winners overall to ever take home the statue — but not the youngest of all time. That distinction belongs to Roxana Zal, who won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at just 14 years old in 1984 for her performance in the acclaimed TV film Something About Amelia, which co-starred Glenn Close and Ted Danson.
Other notable young winners include Kristy McNichol, who in 1977 had just turned 15 when she took home an Emmy for Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Letitia “Buddy” Lawrence in the ABC series Family. More recently, Zendaya holds the record for the youngest actress to win in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category at 24 years old in 2020 for her role in Euphoria.
Adolescence has become one of the most talked-about series of 2025, thanks to its unflinching exploration of modern school life, social media culture, online bullying, misogyny, and the toxic pull of the manosphere on the younger generation—paired with its ambitious one-take format and extraordinary ensemble performances.
Adolescence, All episodes streaming, Netflix
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