Netflix viewers praise child star at centre of gripping new Stephen Graham thriller who had never acted before
Netflix viewers have been full of praise for the performance of a new child star, Owen Cooper, in a Stephen Graham thriller which was added this morning.
Finding a good child star for a show is incredibly difficult, but this is especially true when the topic is incredibly serious.
Graham’s new series sees him team up again with Boiling Point director Philip Barantini. Similarly to the kitchen-based drama, everything is done in one continuous take, like a play.
Boiling Point was an hour and a half, however, their newest collaboration Adolescence is four non-stop hour long episodes, each filmed in one continuous hour long takes.
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The series follows Graham as a father whose son Jamie, played by Cooper, is accused of stabbing another child to death.
Cooper, who has never acted before, has received particular praise for his performance.
The Hollywood Reporter’s rave review of the series called Cooper a ‘spectacular newcomer’, and they were not alone.
Rolling Stone were even more effusive in their praise of the young actor, saying: “For Owen Cooper, in his first screen credit, to do all the things asked of him in this role, is staggering.
“While the camera stays on him, he can go from calm, even playful, to sad, or to utterly terrifying, within the span of seconds, and have it all feel completely natural and riveting. What a find.”
The show’s creator Phillip Barantini said in an interview with Variety: “Actors train for years and years and still can’t really master what Owen has done.”
Speaking at the Next on Netflix event, Barantini revealed how they found Cooper – and the sweet gesture they made to all the other young boys who auditioned for the role. He said: “I mean, we made a show about a 13-year-old boy as the lead.
“We were thinking, ‘how are we going to be able to get a 13-year-old to do what we need them to do?' It's heavy.
“We scoured the North West of England. Shaheen Baig, the casting director, is incredible at finding young talent and so she found actors who'd done a few bits and bobs, but also, kids who’ve never acted before.
“Owen was one of those kids. He did self-tapes and we were like, ‘this kid's got something.’”
They also revealed that near all of the kids who made the latter stages of auditions were given some kind of role in the show.
This included one scene at a school that involved 400 children.
When asked about his acting experience prior to the show in an interview with Variety, Cooper said: “Literally nothing. I only really wanted to start acting a couple of years ago. It’s not been long. I grew up wanting to be a footballer.”
The series has been a hit so far, with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and an average of 8.6 on IMDb at the time of writing.
Anita Singh of the Daily Telegraph said in their five star review of the show: “It is a drama so quietly devastating that I won’t forget it for a very long time.”
Adolescence is available to watch on Netflix now.
Topics: Netflix, Stephen Graham, TV, TV and Film, Adolescence
Michael Slavin