Adolescence actor reveals ‘genuinely scary’ moment with co-star

Adolescence star Erin Doherty has revealed the moment that sent chills down her spine in the buzzy one-shot Netflix drama.

The Crown actor, 32, plays clinical psychologist Briony Ariston who completes a pre-trial assessment on Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper), a schoolboy charged with murdering his female classmate.

At the start of their session, Jamie is amicable and possesses childlike innocence, but hits a turning point where he becomes consumed by rage and manipulative, which Erin 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.

Erin also heaped praise on Owen, who was 14 at the time of filming, for tackling the tonal shift after ‘pushing himself’ in the 11th take – the one eventually used in Adolescence.

The Chloe star said: ‘I’m so proud of Owen because I got to see him push himself as an actor, to really go there. Back then, he was this kid and he didn’t want to be this scary thing, especially with someone he just met.

‘So we really had to work on creating this safe space to let him know that he’s going to be fine. To think about that kid versus the one that turned up in that 11th take, and push those buttons and pushed himself, I’m just so proud.’

Erin previously told Metro how she prepared for the role of Briony, revealing she contacted her former therapist to learn about their day-to-day to ‘try and get in that head space’.

She continued: ‘I think particularly psychologically, people who are in that line of work are very in the moment. I was conscious that what you needed to see was someone who was present, rather than having that context. So I basically did my research and then let it all go, in order to serve the piece as best I could.’

Earlier this week, Adolescence creators Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne accepted an invitation to attend a meeting in Parliament to discuss online safety with MPs.

The show examines incel culture, which has led to misogyny online and bullying using social media.

During an interview with BBC Two’s current affairs programme Newsnight, Jack said he hopes ‘we can use this moment to provoke this government to consider quite serious change.’

He referenced that the Australian senate has passed a social media ban for young children.

The screenwriter said: ‘I would extend it further, it is about gaming too, and it’s about getting inside all these different systems.’

In Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir Starmer indicated Adolescence could be shown in schools.

The Prime Minister said he watched the programme with his children and added that ‘this violence carried out by young men, influenced by what they see online, is a real problem, it’s abhorrent, and we have to tackle it.’

Adolescence is available to stream on Netflix.

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