EastEnders’ Natalie Cassidy shares sweet four-word message to Adolescence star Owen Cooper
The mother of ‘Adolescence’ star Owen Cooper had a succinct five-word reaction to her son’s sudden rise to fame after the series became Netflix’s most-watched in the UK within a single week.
In the popular Netflix drama, Owen takes on the role of Jamie, a young boy accused of murdering a classmate, with ‘This Is England’ actor Stephen Graham portraying Eddie Miller, the father of the 13-year-old.
Eddie is subsequently selected as Jamie’s appropriate adult, accompanying him during his police interview and discovering the full extent of his son’s alleged actions.
The series has received international praise following its first two episodes, which attracted 5.9 million viewers, surpassing BBC One’s ‘The Apprentice’ and ‘Death In Paradise’, as well as ITV1’s ‘The Bay’.
At just 15, Owen has been lauded for his impressive performance in the show, which astonishingly marks his acting debut, reports the Mirror US.
During their ‘Off The Telly’ podcast, former EastEnders actress Natalie Cassidy disclosed that she encountered the young actor’s mother while they were both guests on an episode of ITV’s This Morning.
Natalie took the chance to commend Noreen, Owen’s mother, on her son’s achievements and enquired about her thoughts on his sudden fame.
She recounted: “I met Owen, he was there and he was there with his mum and I think his dad was around, and he had lots of people there looking after him. I just kind of had to remember he’s a human being and I did want to give him a big cuddle and I just said ‘I just want to say, you’ve been absolutely spectacular’.
“Then I just spoke to his mum and said ‘you must be so proud, how are you feeling?’. Because obviously it must have blown up so much. She just said ‘it’s such a shock but we’re getting on with it’, just very, very normal and you just think ‘please don’t change, please remain like that’. He was a lovely, lovely, lovely young boy.”
The show, brought to life by Graham and writer Jack Thorne, delves into the dark and complex world of incel (involuntary celibate) culture, notorious for fuelling online misogyny and cyberbullying.
Co-host Joanna Page, famed for her role in BBC’s Gavin and Stacey, confessed she had only seen the initial three episodes of the Netflix series, yet exclaimed it was “so, so good”.
“All of the different changes in him, I just want to pick him up and just cuddle him,” Joanna expressed. “He’s just so adorable, I find it heartbreaking because, watching the third episode, you see him and he’s just a little boy.
“And then he just changes, and then he gets angry, and then he stops himself from being angry. I found it heartbreaking. I wanted to pick him up and just give him a cuddle.”
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