How casting administrators are turning on nepo infants and putting gold by hiring unknown actors with zero expertise equivalent to Owen Cooper and Keiyon Cook

When Owen Cooper starred in Netflix‘s harrowing crime drama Adolescence, viewers could have easily mistaken him for a seasoned pro.

But the 15-year-old from Warrington had zero acting experience before his performance as the teenage killer in Stephen Graham’s Netflix hit.

Graham selected the actor, who was 13 at the time of filming, out of 500 other auditionees, not only for his ‘unique’ abilities, but also to create opportunities for a child from a working-class background.

‘We try to create opportunities both in front of and behind the cameras, you know, for working class kids, or people who wouldn’t normally have those opportunities,’ Graham told Heart via Liverpool Echo.

He added: ‘We wanted someone fresh and not used to the whole kind of way that we work and stuff like that’.

The co-creator’s instinct was spot on, and Cooper was so convincing in his chilling portrayal of Jamie Miller that he has since landed himself a role as young Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s upcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation alongside Margot Robbie.

The teen, who had done ‘literally nothing’ in the world of acting, isn’t the only star plucked off the streets and given a chance at stardom, with a series of other directors rejecting experience and nepotism to seek first time actors, including with Thomas Turgoose of This Is England Angus Cloud of HBO‘s Euphoria.

The effect? A hyper realistic portrayal of a given community, and according to media expert Chad Teixeria, it’s the key to an exciting watch.

In conversation with Femail, Teixeria said: ‘Once upon a time, the path to Hollywood (or at least a gritty British drama) was paved with years of RADA training, Shakespearean monologues, and a few teary rejections at the National Youth Theatre.

‘But these days? You might just need a compelling face, an intriguing backstory, and the ability to look convincingly moody on camera.

‘Owen Cooper in Adolescence has followed in the footsteps of Keiyon Cook from Top Boy, Angus Cloud from Euphoria, and even the original ‘let’s pluck kids off the street’ film Kids by Larry Clark.’

The expert continued: ‘Part of it is a reaction to the cookie-cutter ‘stage-school kid’, perfectly trained, slightly robotic, and sometimes lacking that effortless realism. 

‘There’s also a sense that audiences are craving something different. We’ve seen the overly enunciated, overly rehearsed performances.

‘Now we want to believe. We want messy, unscripted charm. We want to feel like we’re peeking into real life rather than watching someone who spent years perfecting their RP accent.’

Indeed, when Top Boy first aired in 2011, directors cast various unknown Hackney residents to portray the gritty gangsters on an east London estate.

Among them was the then-12-year-old Hackney resident Keiyon Cook, who played Ats in the crime drama, which marked his first ever acting role.

Elsewhere, Michael Onafowokan, who played Cornell, told The Face of his organic journey into the show.

‘I saw a post on Instagram and sent in a video. I just shared an experience of how I almost got stabbed,’ he said.

The late Angus Cloud of Euphoria fame had a similar story and was plucked from obscurity by a talent scout while working as a waiter in Brooklyn.

Cloud, who shot to fame as drug dealer Fezco in the hit HBO series Euphoria when it first aired in June 2019, had been waiting tables at now-closed chicken and waffle restaurant Woodland in Prospect Heights just weeks earlier – unaware he was about to star in the platform’s second most-watched show of all time.

But Cloud’s life was not without struggle. In 2013, the California native suffered a brain injury falling into a construction pit and did not wake for 12 hours – leaving him with slowed speech and giving him the characteristic drawl associated with his popular character.

His premature death in 2023 came just a week after he buried his father Conor, which left him with ‘intense grief’ and ‘severe suicidal thoughts’, his family said in a statement.

Cloud was found unresponsive in his family home in Oakland, California, by his mother at around 11.30am. 

Discussing the energy Cloud brought, Teixeria added: ‘These were roles where raw energy trumped polished technique, and casting directors are increasingly on the hunt for that authenticity.’

Perhaps paving the way for Cloud and the Top Boy alum was Larry Clark’s Kids – the award-winning film following a group of New York children in a day in their life.

The cast notably had no prior acting experience, with Clark scouting the actors while out in New York.

Then, seven years later City of God arrived – a 2002 film following young criminals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with many of the actors cast from the real-life favelas.

While Kids and City of God found critical acclaim, Teixeria, warned that the hiring method doesn’t always pay off.

He said: ‘Of course, this approach doesn’t always land. Sometimes, inexperience can show. There’s a reason actors train for years – because acting is a skill.

‘But when it works, it really works. There’s an undeniable magic to watching someone who’s never acted before absolutely own a role, as if they were born to do it.

‘And let’s be honest, there’s something thrilling about the idea that someone could go from stacking shelves at Tesco to starring in an A24 movie overnight.

‘Owen’s co-star Stephen Graham likened him to ‘the next Robert De Niro’ in an interview on The One Show this week, and the praise certainly seems to measure up, given the outstanding reviews for the young star’s first ever performance.

‘So, will this trend last? Or will casting directors eventually crawl back to the safety of trained professionals? Who knows. But for now, the ‘never acted before’ brigade is having a moment, and frankly, it’s pretty exciting to watch.’