The race for theEmmysis heating up. With just a month to go until the eligibility date cutoff of May 31, we’re starting to hear about the major submissions from the biggest shows in television. This year, one of the key shows to watch at the ceremony will beNetflix’sAdolescence.
The streaming platform’s four-episode limited series has been one of the most talked about TV shows this year, tackling knife crime not from the perspective of a whodunit but in terms of the culpability of society. It explores the ways in which young boys are led down violent paths by lack of guidance from their community and online influences, and the devastating impact that can have on young girls. And it could break a major Emmy record.
Adolescence’s Owen Cooper Could Be The Youngest Male Emmy Winner Ever
Five of the Adolescence cast have submitted for the Emmys, with Stephen Graham, the father of the boy at the centre of the crime, submitting in Lead Actor. Owen Cooper, who plays the son Jaime, and Ashley Walters (the arresting officer) have both submitted in Supporting Actor, while Erin Doherty (Jamie’s social worker) and Christine Tremarco (Jamie’s mother) have submitted in Supporting Actress. Of these, Graham and Cooper are considered heavy favourites for their categories.
Graham has never been nominated for an Emmy across his career. He does have eight BAFTA nominations to his name, though he is yet to record a win.
If Cooper, who is 15 years old, was to win, he would become the youngest male ever to win an Emmy, taking the record from Scott Jacoby, who was 16 when he won for the 1973 TV movie That Certain Summer. He’d also be the youngest Limited Series nominee ever too, a record currently held by Asante Blackk (then 17) for his performance in another Netflix limited series, When They See Us. Cooper would not be the youngest winner outright, however, as that would be Roxana Zal, who won 1984 at the age of 14 for her role in TV movie in Something About Amelia.
There are significantly fewer limited series that release each year compared to the swathes of prestige drama and high calibre comedy that challenges for the Emmys, so that may be in Cooper’s favour - he won’t be up against anyone from shows likeSeverance,The White Lotus, orThe Last of Us, which are all set to feature heavily in other categories. His biggest competitor will likely be Javier Bardem for his performance in yet another Netflix limited series, Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story.
Bardem plays the murdered father José Menendez in the show, and has already been nominated for his performance as Menendez at the 2025 Golden Globes, which use a different release window meaning Adolescence will not be eligible for that ceremony until the 2026 awards. The Globes groups all Supporting Actors together, and Bardem lost to Tadanobu Asano for his role in drama series Shogun.
