Netflix’s Adolescence breakout star makes TV history with Emmy nomination

The 2025 Emmy nominations are in, with Netflix’s Adolescence star Owen Cooper continuing his record-breaking streak as he reacts to the honour. The 15-year-old actor has become the youngest of all time to secure an outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or anthology series nomination after his breakout performance as 13-year-old murder suspect Jamie in the hit series (Picture: Netflix)

The acclaimed show that swept the globe has picked up six key nominations (14 in total), joining a high-calibre mix of nominees including The White Lotus, Severance and Hacks, all of which have an award-winning history. The young actor, for whom this was his first official role, has surpassed current record-holder Scott Jacoby, who was 16 years old when he was nominated for 1972 TV movie That Certain Summer (Picture: Netflix)

‘It’s crazy,’ he told Deadline about his Emmy recognition. ‘It’s been the best year of my life. Now it’s over a little bit, I’m going back to a bit of normality. School has been perfectly fine.' In Owen’s category, he is joined by Javier Bardem for Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story, Bill Camp and Peter Sarsgaard for Presumed Innocent, Rob Delaney for Dying For Sex, and Ashley Walters also for Adolescence (Picture: Getty)

The one-shot show – also starring Emmy nominees Stephen Graham, Erin Doherty  and Ashley Walters – delves into toxic masculinity, the woes facing the current teenage generation and the dangers of an unfiltered internet (Picture: Netflix)

Adolescence is now the second most-watched English-language show on the streaming service with 142.6 million views. As well as securing nominations in the top categories, it is also nominated for outstanding directing (Philip Barantini), cinematography and sound editing (Picture: AP)

It follows in the footsteps of Netflix’s biggest TV award-sweeper from last year, Baby Reindeer.The Richard Gadd-helmed show sparked international discourse and secured top prizes for the cast and crew at the Emmys with six awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology series (Picture: AP)

As for the rest of the nominations, some shows have clearly dominated. Apple TV Plus series Severance took the top spot with 27 nominations, followed by 24 for HBO’s The Penguin and 23 for both The Studio and The White Lotus (Picture: Apple TV+)