How Adolescence Director Found Young Star Owen Cooper

Uh, how on earth did you find Owen. Cooper who was the star of this thing, the young kid who's extraordinary? Uh, how did you find him? What was that. process? And also, how did he learn all. of those lines? How did he get. everything done given given the whole. thing is shot in one take? >> Yeah. Well, we we I'd received, you. know, hundreds and hundreds of tapes. through Shaheen B, our wonderful casting. director. One of the first things I. asked for was just an improvised moment. of two two sort of ideas. One of them. was you've been to you've been brought.

into your headteer's office and you're. guilty of something. And then the other. the other scenario was that you were. innocent of this thing, right? And I. just wanted to see what you know the how. they played it. Owen was someone who. just was so real and so natural and you. know it's quite rare to see that in an. actor especially in auditions and I. think he just didn't really have any. preconceptions about what acting was. He. he'd done some acting classes and you. know he was doing it for fun really. We. got him in and we put him through his.

paces really. we give we he had like. five auditions uh and a couple of those. were with Steven um towards the end of. the of the uh of of the process and it. just every time he came in he just. absolutely nailed it and I and I sort of. you know I would I would give him more. and more things to do and you know Matt. even came in on one of the on on one of. the screen tests with with Stephen and. filmed it and uh we were all just like. as he left we were just like oh yeah. this this kid is like different level.

different level you So, it was really. special. Yeah. He didn't know the the. full scope of what he would have to. learn. Along the way, I was saying to. them, you know, this is this is a this. is going to be all shot in one take. And. and I don't think he understood he. didn't quite grasp what that meant cuz. he'd never worked before, you know, and. when he finally got the script, uh you. know, we we sort of worked with him. quite a lot. And you know, we we sort of. we got a um a wonderful uh uh sort of. acting coach in to come and help him to.

sort of learn his lines. Not to not to. to to coach him in the acting side of. it, but but to help him to sort of get. these lines in his head and and you. know, just to be able to get off the. page, but you know what, he was he was. an absolute natural. The first day we. came onto set, we shot episode three. first um due to Steven's schedule. The. first day he came on set, we all sat. around a table. Um, and we sort of just. were going to go through the script and. read the get get the script off the. page, read it. We all had our scripts in. our hand. Aaron had a script in our.

hand. All the other actors had the. script in hand. And Owen just came in. and he had a script. He put it on the. table and he just he just went he just. did it. It was mindblowing. He does what. most actors train for most of their. lives, which is to be real, be natural, be be, you know, in the moment and just. and listen. It's so important to just. listen as an actor and and listen and. respond naturally in the moment. And he. just does that instinctively. Like I, you know, to to the to the point. where, you know, I give him notes and I.

I wouldn't think that he was taking. these notes in. I was like, I don't know. whether he's actually taking all that. in. And he then he'd go and smash out a. take and you'd be like, "Wo, what?" I. I'm just like, "Yeah, it was it was. mind-blowing. Mind-blowing." It was so. exciting to watch. You know, I've never. been so excited about about watching an. actor. You know, some I'm not watch like. with with with certainly with episode 3, I'm watching I forget sometimes that I'm. that I'm supposed to be like uh making. notes and checking on it cuz I'm so. engrossed in it and I'm in it. I was.

like, you know, so I have to watch it. back again straight away. Um yeah. Amazing. Amazing. >> I I think that I mean he's so. unbelievably phenomenal. It's really. interesting. So many skills in actually. the arts or whatever do actually involve. when you achieve peak level of it. It is. unlearning all the sort of bad habits. and you know that the artifice really of. it all. And it's so interesting that he. hadn't worked as they described it. hadn't worked very much beforehand so. that you you don't have all like you. haven't acred all those kind of bad.

habits and the fakery of it really. >> Yeah. The idea of saying we're doing in. one take and you're going yes sorry is. that not how is that not how how you. make telly. >> what's the take. >> Philip Barentina would never say this. you've got to be a great director to get. that sort of performance from someone as. well it takes an awful lot of. sensitivity from a director to. understand who you're talking to how to. speak to that person what it is you want. from the script how to get that across. to somebody any actor will tell you. working with a great director makes you. a a better actor but um. >> and how many directors are going to want. to work with him it's such a you know it.

is it's a it's a risk of the proverb of. working with children and animals. That. guy can carry your movie. >> He's going to he's going to win every. award going, isn't he?