Adolescence: drama schools hit out at ‘stars from nowhere’ narrative

Adolescence’s stratospheric success has catapulted its young cast of unknown actors into the limelight. Reams of headlines have suggested that they have come from nowhere – yet the grassroots regional drama schools that trained them say this overlooks their hard work.

To find undiscovered talent for the show, Adolescence’s casting director, Shaheen Baig, visited two northern drama schools that work with children from underrepresented and deprived communities.

Baig recently posted on Instagram that she wanted to give a “special shoutout” to the Drama MOB and Articulate Drama School and Agency, because: “There’s not enough praise for drama teachers up and down the country doing great community work with very little financial support or recognition.”

Yet other reporting of the show’s breakout star, Owen Cooper, has emphasised the narrative that “Owen had ‘done nothing and came from nowhere’”, as though he had been spotted on the street, says the Drama MOB co-founder Esther Morgan.

In reality, Cooper attended a weekly drama class at the Drama MOB in Manchester, and took part in productions in professional theatres.

‘It simply isn’t true that he came from nowhere … Owen Cooper as Jamie Miller in Adolescence. Photograph: Courtesy of Netflix

“We have been frustrated with the narrative … this simply isn’t true,” says Morgan. “He was a drama student and represented by our casting agency. Owen was a fantastic actor when he started with us and we are incredibly proud to have provided Owen with the skills and training he has needed to enter the industry, audition-ready.”

She feels this plays into the performing arts’ London-centric focus. “It’s not so much north/south but London/everywhere else. The north is underfunded and often ignored as a creative space.”

Tina O’Brien (left) and Esther Morgan, co-founders of Drama MOB in Manchester. Photograph: Dom Brophy

Coronation Street star Tina O’Brien, who co-founded the school, says Owen’s performance is “outstanding”, and reflects the school’s mission to train “the next generation of northern talent”.

Baig also approached Articulate in Yorkshire, which has helped its students work in Hollywood as well as in the UK television industry. Like the Drama MOB, it offers scholarships for children who can’t afford classes, and says the majority of its students are from working-class backgrounds.

Stacey Burrows, Articulate’s managing director, says her team has worked with Baig for years, including to cast students in shows such as the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie and the Netflix series Toxic Town.

Baig’s team sent briefs for each character in April 2024 and the school suggested suitable children for many roles. The process spanned a couple of months and included self-taped auditions, Zoom recalls and in-person meetings, as well as a final chemistry read with other actors.

Stacey Burrows, managing director of Articulate Agency. Photograph: Lorne Campbell/Guzelian

The actors chosen include Amélie Pease, 18, who plays Jamie’s sister, Lisa; Fatima Bojang, 18, who plays Jade in episode two; and Austin Haynes, 16, who plays Fredo in episodes two and four.

Burrows says it was an “absolute joy” to watch them in the show. “We were so thrilled with the final result of Adolescence – all three of our artists were shining brightly and it gives us a real sense of pride and accomplishment because we’re not just agents who book jobs, we are mentors and teachers, too. Those kids worked so unbelievably hard for those opportunities and they deserve all the praise they are getting,” she says.

But she agrees that some of the narrative around talent coming from “nowhere” was frustrating for schools like hers. “We have heard a lot from Stephen Graham that Owen came from ‘nothing’ or ‘nowhere’, which fits with the narrative they seemed to want at the outset. This has caused wide upset among many grassroots drama schools, helping working-class kids to break into the industry,” she says.

“Not only that, but to disregard early training sends out the message that young people don’t need to work hard at their craft. It also risks preventing people going to grassroots training grounds and getting into the arts.”

Another drama school, The Boury Academy in London, posted on Instagram that “to pretend he was simply discovered on the street is to erase the work of the very people who made that opportunity possible”.

Burrows wants to see more recognition of how drama schools like hers have a “life-changing” impact on their students, from resilience to communication skills, and for this to fuel greater support. “Regional drama schools are crying out for funding,” she says.

Articulate receives no funding from external sources and all scholarships are self-funded from its small profits, she says. Some children drop out because they can’t afford the bus fares, and she regularly drives students to auditions when they can’t pay for transport.

“What we need is the support of actors like Stephen Graham, encouraging kids to come to drama schools like ours that are doing incredible things, and not dismissing them as coming from ‘nowhere’,” she says. “We need casting directors to keep coming to us to keep offering life-changing opportunities and we need huge directors like Shane Meadows and Clio Barnard to take the time to reach out, come and see us and see what our kids can do and how talented they truly are.”