Young actor Owen Cooper, who played Jamie Miller in the hit Netflix show about the murder of a teenage girl, said Stephen Graham used these eight words to get him into character.

Owen Cooper, the breakout star of the hit Netflix drama Adolescence, has opened up about an eight-word phrase Stephen Graham would say to him on set to help him get into character. The four-episode series, which was released earlier this month, was met with critical acclaim and 15-year-old Cooper has been tipped for success during awards season, with many calling for him to win an Emmy.

The story centres on 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Cooper) who is arrested for the murder of a schoolgirl, and the impact it has on those affected, including his parents, who are played by Stephen Graham and Christine Tremarco.

Graham was also a co-creator of the show along with Jack Thorne, while the miniseries was directed by Philip Baranini. Each episode is shot in one take, in a breath-takingly impressive display of technical skills, camera work and acting.

Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that this was Cooper’s first ever acting role – and the only previous training he had was a weekly drama class.

Owen Cooper plays the role of 13-year-old Jamie Miller in Adolescence

He discussed working with Graham in an interview with Variety, and said the actor was “always checking in” with him.

He explained how Graham would also use one harrowing sentence to help get him into his character’s frame of mind. “There was a time in episode one, when it was just us two, with no camera, in the police cell, and he scruffed me up and said ‘you’re never going to see your mum again, you’re never going to see your dad again’, and was going on and on,” Cooper said.

He added: “Before then I’d been frustrated because I hadn’t been getting emotional. But after that point I was emotional in every take. So that helped me a lot.”

Barantini said he was blown away by Cooper’s skills, explaining: “Actors train for years and years and still can’t really master what Owen has mastered, which is basically just being in the moment and listening and being truthful. l’ve obviously worked with a lot of actors in my time as an actor and as a director and a lot of actors can’t do what he can do. He doesn’t even realize it! He’s so blasé.”

The team wanted someone for the part of Jamie who “didn’t have a lot of experience”, Graham explained. “But we knew that what we were doing and what we were trying to ask this young person to do was cosmic in many ways.”

He told The Independent: “It’s a huge undertaking, but we cast Owen, who had no experience, he’d done a couple of little theatre workshops, and he was just starting to do little bits in school.”

After witnessing his talent, Graham recommended his agent to Cooper – a move which led to the teenager securing a role in the upcoming Wuthering Heights film from director Emerald Fennell, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.