‘Adolescence’ star Owen CooperNetflix

Stephen Graham has gone as far as comparing him to Robert De Niro — and now Netflix has revealed the moment where it all began for the breakout star of Adolescence.

Owen Cooper had never worked as an actor before auditioning to play the central character in the hit British series, which is directed by Philip Barantini.

Netflix has posted the teenager’s audition tape for the role of Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old arrested by armed police on suspicion of murder.

The tape features two scenes from the four-part limited series. The first involves Miller being advised by a lawyer ahead of his police interview.

The second scene is taken from the memorable third episode, in which Miller is analyzed by psychologist Briony Ariston, played by The Crown star Erin Doherty.

The video player is currently playing an ad. You can skip the ad in 5 sec with a mouse or keyboard

“I don’t wanna f****** sit down,” Cooper shouts during the audition, throwing a chair. It’s a taster of the unsettling rage he delivered during the final scene, which was filmed in one shot.

In another clip posted by Netflix, Cooper watches back an audition tape with Doherty, who proceeds to jibe him about his hairstyle. “Oh my God, look at you,” she laughs. “Why is your hair doing that? You’re way cooler now.”

As well as performing well in the U.S., Adolescence’s first episode became the first ever UK streaming show to top the weekly British ratings chart while also amassing the biggest audience for any streaming TV show in the UK in a single week. According to ratings agency Barb, the first episode was watched by nearly 6.5 million viewers in its first week.