Adolescence star Owen Cooper is ‘booted OUT of operating for the Best Actor Emmy’ – however specialists hail ‘genius transfer’ that could possibly be GREAT for the teenage star

Adolescence star Owen Cooper’s hopes of an historic Emmy win received a massive boost yesterday – ironically as he was ruled out of competing for Best Actor.

The 15-year-old break-out star will instead be entered into ceremonies as Best Supporting Actor for his role as murder suspect Jamie Miller, multiple sources suggested to MailOnline.

The Netflix show’s creator Stephen Graham, who played Jamie’s dad Eddie, will go into the Best Actor category in his place. Until yesterday it appeared the reverse would happen.

The first of the major awards contests that Adolescence qualifies for will be this Autumn’s Primetime Emmys, which announces nominations in July.

Industry gurus at the website Gold Derby, who track the chances of awards-show success, swapped Cooper and Graham’s categories this week after ‘receiving intel’ on how Netflix would enter the pair.

Sources in Los Angeles said, although nothing was finalised at this stage, it was believed entering Graham as Best Actor and Cooper as Supporting would boost both of their chances of taking home the silverware.

Cooper, who was just 14 and in his first-ever role when he filmed his scenes that have stunned the showbiz world, would be the youngest boy to ever win an Emmy.

Yesterday, just hours after entering the Best Supporting Actor market, he was 14/1 third-favourite and surging up the list.

Owen Cooper’s hopes of winning an Emmy received a massive boost yesterday as he will be entered into ceremonies as Best Supporting Actor instead of Best Actor

The Netflix show’s creator Stephen Graham, who played Jamie’s dad Eddie, will go into the Best Actor category in his place 

Graham, who co-wrote the show with Jack Thorne, similarly reached 15/1 to win Best Actor in rapid time. The MailOnline graphs on this page are updated regularly, so will reflect current odds.

Adolescence has wowed fans and critics alike since debuting on Netflix just two weeks ago. It raked in 66.3m views in its first week-and-a-half on the streaming service, making it the most-watched UK product ever and the most-watched limited series. It is likely to smash total viewing records in coming weeks.

It also made UK TV history by becoming the first streaming programme to take the No1 spot in Barb’s weekly ratings. In all its episodes filled four of the top ten slots in the chart.

The show itself has become favourite to win the Emmy for Best Limited Series with odds of 5/2 placing it above The Penguin at 51/20.

Also in strong contention for the gongs is Erin Cooper in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role as psychologist Briony Ariston who goes toe-to-toe with Jamie in the thrilling third episode. She was up to 7/1 fourth-favourite in a wide-open field.

MailOnline reported last week how teenager Cooper has rocketed past the likes of Robert De Niro in the race to be Best Actor. He was the 11/2 second-favourite with Gold Derby when he was removed from that race.

The current favourite for Best Actor is Colin Farrell for The Penguin at 8/5. But industry insiders said they expected Graham to close the gap in the coming days.

One explained: ‘Owen Cooper was magnificent as Jamie but he’s only on screen in two episodes so his chances of overhauling Colin Farrell were relatively slim. 

‘Stephen Graham however holds the whole show together and appears in three of the four parts. He has a much better chance with his industry pedigree of reeling Colin in.

‘Swapping categories is actually a genius move by Netflix. Owen will be favourite for the Best Supporting Actor trophy before we know it I’m sure, he has a much higher chance of winning that than Best Actor.’

Owen’s surge up the betting market means he only has two actors to overtake, 9/2 current favourite Javier Bardem for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and 13/2-shot Live Schreiber for The Perfect Couple.

Adolescence has captivated audiences and critics since it hit Netflix earlier this month, with each episode filmed in a single continuous take. 

Adolescence stars Stephen Graham (left) as the father of troubled teen Jamie who is accused of murdering a 13-year-old girl in an attack inspired by the misogynistic ‘manosphere’

The drama has captivated audiences and critics since it hit Netflix earlier this month, with each episode filmed in a single continuous take

The four-episode programme follows the Miller family, whose lives are torn apart when their 13-year-old son Jamie is arrested for stabbing a female classmate to death after being influenced by online misogyny.

After his devastating performance as schoolboy Jamie, Owen is tipped for silver-screen success – and has been compared to a young Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.

Meanwhile, Graham, has described finding Owen as the ‘biggest achievement’ of the four-part series and raved about the young star as the ‘next Robert De Niro’ at his audition.

He said: ‘You see a rare talent like this once in a blue moon, yeah it’s a talent of a generation.

‘And I came out of the [audition] room and said to his mum, “He’s the next Robert De Niro.” I did.’

While appearing on the One Show together, De Niro told the young actor: ‘Well, I think he’s off to a good start, that’s the main thing. And just keep at it. Keep at it! Do… I mean he’s there. Now it’s common sense, what to do, what not to do.

‘Try to stay out of trouble and all that stuff and you’ll do well. You’ll do well!’