British Actors You Should Know: Olivia Cooke

Olivia Cooke, born in 1993 in Manchester, was the sort of child who liked to put on performances in the front garden with her friends. At the age of eight, she joined the Oldham Theatre Workshop, an after-school drama program in her hometown, whose alumni included Anna Friel and Suranne Jones. Cooke attended Royton and Crompton Academy; however, she responded to an open-call audition at the age of 14 and landed herself an agent. To the alarm of her parents (a divorced couple, but solid working-class people), she left Sixth Form College before taking her A-levels, which could have been a disastrous move. Instead, she landed her debut role in the 2012 BBC One drama series Blackout at the age of 16, and appeared in three episodes, kicking off a career that hasn’t stopped since.

Despite her agent telling her it was unnecessary since her carer was already in full swing, Cooke auditioned for RADA (The Royal Academy of the Dramatic Arts), the more traditional training for a British actor, when she reached the age to go to university. She made it all the way to the final round, before being told she didn’t make the final cut. Cooke says in interviews that she considers herself an actor who learned on the job. “I think these past 12 years have been my film school,” she recently told Elle ahead of Season 2 of the hit series she now stars in, the Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon.

Let’s take a look at her career!