‘Why Stephen Graham told me I’d never see my mum again filming Adolescence’

Owen Cooper has revealed the brutal words Stephen Graham shared with him (Picture: Courtesy of Netflix)

Adolescence star Owen Cooper has revealed the chilling message Stephen Graham told him to help get him into character.

Following the smash Netflix drama’s release, the show’s makers and cast have shared their collective shock over how much impact the four-part series has had.

After Prime Minister Keir Starmer personally endorsed the series, it was revealed that schoolchildren will now be given lessons to counter misogyny under the government’s new relationships, health and sex education guidance, the Times reported.

Parents have also since issued desperate pleas for the ‘terrifying’ drama to be shown in schools after it ‘shook’ many families to the core.

However, fans of the show might be surprised to discover the haunting sentence Graham shared with his co-star Cooper, who was only 14-years-old at the time of shooting, to help make him more emotional.

Get personalised updates on all things Netflix

Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro’s TV Newsletter.

Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we’ll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you.

Speaking with Variety, Cooper said: ‘Obviously Stephen was always checking in on me.

Cooper said Graham’s words helped make him more emotional (Picture: Courtesy of Netflix)

‘But 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. 

‘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. He was amazing to work with.’

After already securing his next role alongside Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie in Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights, Cooper has been tipped for Oscar success in the future.

Dubbed the ‘Lionel Messi of acting’ by Ashley Walters, Cooper was handpicked by the Adolescence writers Graham and Jack Thorne out of 500 young performers.

Starring in what was his first ever professional acting job, he truly blew audiences away with his performance.

Graham brought an incredible intensity to the role (Picture: Courtesy of Netflix)

Cooper’s co-star, Erin Doherty, also revealed a terrifying moment that sent chills down her spine during the four-part ‘one-take’ series.

The Crown actor, 32, described the moment her character, Briony, completes a pre-trial assessment on Jamie Miller (Cooper).

At the start of their session, Jamie is amicable and possesses childlike innocence, but he soon hits a turning point where he becomes consumed by rage, which Doherty said was ‘genuinely scary.’

The A Thousand Blows actor told Variety: ‘It’s every actor’s dream to get to a place where you forget yourself and you are in this strange reality that you’ve created.

‘It sounds bizarre, but you genuinely do believe it in the moment if the person opposite you is doing their job and you’re doing yours. You both created this other place, and we were lucky enough to get there together.