The co-director of the Manchester drama school where Adolescence star Owen Cooper trained has said she hopes his Emmy win will encourage producers to 'look outside the box' when casting working-class and northern talent.
Cooper, 15, became the youngest ever male recipient of an Emmy on Sunday, winning best supporting actor in a limited series for his role as teenage murder suspect Jamie Miller in the Netflix drama.
Esther Morgan, who runs the Drama MOB school in Didsbury, Manchester, with Coronation Street star Tina O'Brien, helped train Cooper alongside hundreds of other young people from the north-west. She said they were delighted at his success and pleased to see producers taking time to look for talent outside London.
'There's a frustration in the industry that everything seems to happen in London, despite the talent that exists elsewhere,' Morgan said. 'We were really passionate that we wanted to build something from the north, for northern kids and provide them with the same opportunities, no matter where they're from.'
Cooper was cast after Stephen Graham, co-creator and star of the series, insisted on an unknown northern actor for the role. Morgan hopes Cooper's win will motivate more young people in the north-west to try the arts and encourage a broader approach to casting.
'What we really want, and what we hope Owen's success does, is give a bit of a message out to everybody that maybe they need to look outside the box a bit,' Morgan said. 'There is some really good raw northern talent out there, and in the rest of the country.'
