Adolescent Star Owen Cooper, 15, Makes Significant Progress in Emmy Race as Leading Showbiz Source Weighs In and Surpasses Hollywood Icon in Awards Competition

The teenage star of Netflix hit Adolescence has overtaken Hollywood legend Robert De Niro in the race for an Emmy award, just days after they appeared on British TV together.

Owen Cooper, 15, has soared from nowhere a week ago to be a front-runner in the battle to be named Best Actor in a Limited Series according to Hollywood awards bible Gold Derby.

The Warrington teen was a 100/1 shot as recently as last weekend but as his performance as murderer Jamie Miller sends shockwaves around the showbiz world his odds have tumbled to 9/1 and are getting shorter by the hour.

Gold Derby is the leading LA publication tracking the performances and shows tipped for awards-season success. The Emmy nominations will be revealed on July 15.

First-time actor Cooper and Godfather star De Niro met for the first time last week on the One Show sofa as both promoted their projects.

Cooper was alongside Adolescence’s co-writer Stephen Graham, who also plays his father in the show that has garnered extraordinary praise since hitting screens on Thursday.

The four-episode drama follows events surrounding Cooper’s 13-year-old character being arrested and investigated for the stabbing to death a girl from his school. All episodes are filmed in one continuous take without edits.

One newspaper reviewer said Cooper’s pitch-perfect performance in such a demanding role could be the best on-screen debut in more than 50 years.

And now industry experts agree as more people watch the show and awards talk swells. 

De Niro was a long-time favourite to win the Best Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie Emmy for his portrayal of former US President George Mullen in Netflix’s Zero Day.

In recent weeks he dropped behind new favourite Colin Farrell for The Penguin and Kevin Kline in Disclaimer.

But now Cooper’s performance has ripped up the market. This morning he was fourth-favourite behind Farrell, Kline and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story star Cooper Koch – but was bearing down on Kline and Koch.

His rise knocked De Niro out of the Top 5, meaning he faces not being nominated.

It’s a remarkable turnaround seeing as De Niro, 81, was asked to give the youngster life advice when they appeared on BBC One’s The One Show. 

De Niro told the young actor: ‘Well, I think he’s off to a good start, that’s the main thing.

‘And just keep at it. Keep at it! Do…I mean he’s there. Now it’s common sense, what to do, what not to do.

‘Try to stay out of trouble and all that stuff and you’ll do well. You’ll do well!’ 

Show creator and star Graham revealed he had compared the young star to the A-lister at his audition.

He said: ‘You see a rare talent like this once in a blue moon, yeah it’s a talent of a generation. 

‘And I came out of the [audition] room and said to his mum “He’s the next Robert De Niro”. I did.’

And the critics are equally blown away by young Owen, with The Standard’s Martin Robinson hailing his performance the ‘best debut since Jodie Foster’, who appeared in Taxi Driver alongside De Niro aged 12 in 1976.

‘His is a performance that may be the best debut ever seen by a child actor,’ he wrote. ‘[Leo] DiCaprio was unbelievable in This Boy’s Life, but technically his first film was the schlock horror Critters 3. 

‘You may have to go back to Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver for anything comparable, for the sheer grit and believability of the performance from one so young.’

Another star who’s scenes have been praised is Erin Doherty, who plays the psychiatrist opposite Owen in episode three. She is also rocketing up the Emmy odds as Best Supporting Actress. Today she is 12/1 sixth-favourite and rising.

The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan hailed Erin ‘a woman who is surely emerging as one of the best actors of her generation.’

Adolescence, written by Stephen and Jack Thorne, was only released on Netflix on Thursday, but has already made waves and earned huge praise for its storyline and videography. The show was 5/1 second-favourite for the Emmy win behind just The Penguin.

Stephen Graham takes on the role of Eddie Miller, the dad of Cooper’s Jamie, who is suspected of stabbing one of his classmates Katie (Emilia Holliday).

And the most startling feature of the show is that each episode is all shot in one take, which makes for a theatre-like experience for the viewer. 

Critics have called the show ‘flawless’ and predicted it will sweep the next awards season, while others have been left stunned by the psychological mini-series – which has earned a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The series was filmed in South Kirkby, West Yorkshire, and the cast and crew were based at Production Park a studio facility near Wakefield, for six months last summer.

Some on location filming also took place, one being the Miller house, which is located just a few minutes from the studio.

All episodes are available now on Netflix.