Adolescence star Erin Doherty reveals how working with the debutant Owen Cooper helped her rediscover love for acting 

In the intense Netflix series Adolescence, Erin Doherty gives an impressive performance as Briony Ariston, a clinical psychologist who is assigned the job of getting to know Jamie Miller's 13-year-old psyche, played by newcomer Owen Cooper. Looking back on her working relationship with Cooper, Doherty had only high praise for his professionalism and acting abilities.

She told Grazia,

‘I felt as held by [Cooper] as I hope he did by me. It was an actor’s dream in the sense that it was just tennis, and we were just knocking back and forth.'

The collaboration not only improved the chemistry on camera but also rejuvenated Doherty's enthusiasm for acting and brought back the memories of strong connections that one can create by sharing real collaborative energy.

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The Special Difficulty of Shooting One Take at a Time

Teenage years are marked by a special shooting process where every episode is shot in a single uninterrupted take. This method demanded close preparation and sheer concentration from cast and crew alike. Doherty explained to The Standard,

"We rehearsed for two weeks, getting our choreography down"

Such rigorous rehearsal enabled each movement and line delivery to be exact so that the actors could completely assume their characters unbroken. The following shooting schedule was no less taxing, as Doherty remembered,

"And then for the last week, we shot it twice a day. We'd come in the morning, shoot it once. Have lunch, shoot it again, and then you're done for the day. Because it was that mentally draining that we genuinely couldn't do anything more.”

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Examining Difficult Themes Through Realistic Performances

The show explores tough topics, such as young people's online radicalization and the causes of violent actions. Doherty highlighted how crucial it was to present such issues realistically, saying,

‘I don’t think people are born good or evil,....We wouldn’t have been doing our jobs if we didn’t highlight all the different possibilities that can get someone from being an innocent 13-year-old to committing such a disturbing crime.

She told Grazia,

That’s what the story is doing. Whether you think your kid would do it or not, it doesn’t matter, all it takes is for something to subconsciously embed and you don’t know what could come of it.’

She wanted to know and portray the countless influences that might take a young person off track, praising the show's focus on initiating genuine discussions surrounding contemporary masculinity and pressures within society.

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The theater-like challenge that lured Doherty to Adolescence

Shooting one whole episode in one take is a daunting prospect for any actor, but for Erin Doherty, it was exactly what drew her to Adolescence.

‘I grew up doing theatre and I was like, that’s got to be the perfect combination of the two." she told Grazia.

The style demanded the same level of preparation, concentration, and in-the-moment flexibility as live theater, so it was an appealing but challenging prospect. The stress of delivering perfectly in such a setup was overwhelming.

"You turn up to rehearsal and you just don’t want to let anyone down. You don’t want to be the one to drop the ball,"Doherty conceded.

The two-week rehearsal for the production played a key role in making everyone move in sync, not only the actors but the whole crew. Director Phil Barantini was central to this seamless coordination.

"'In those two weeks, Phil [Barantini] was bringing our creative skills together and making it so we were one mind. If Owen was standing over there, I’d fill in the gap and then the camera team would come with us." Doherty revealed.

This profound level of synchrony produced a smooth, engaging experience that demanded huge commitment from each member of the team.

"That’s such an astonishing thing to do because it takes so much work." she continued, emphasizing the work involved in getting each take perfect.

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Overall, Erin Doherty and Owen Cooper's work together in Adolescence not only proved that they were great performers in their own right, but it also pointed out how necessary it is to feel a sense of connection and emotional honesty when performing.

By performing in ways that move people so profoundly and through the show's engagement with powerful themes, they've helped bring together a story that is highly relatable to society today. Erin Doherty's quest to regain her passion for acting reminds us all of the redemptive nature of creative collaboration.