Adolescence star reveals genius episode 3 'improvised' moment that wasn't in script
18 March 2025, 15:03 | Updated: 19 March 2025, 11:36
"We were all behind the monitors going, 'Oh my God!'"
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Every episode of Netflix's Adolescence is remarkable but episode 3 stands out as a masterclass in acting thanks to newcomer Owen Cooper and Erin Doherty. It also includes a completely unscripted 'mistake' that ended up becoming one of the best and most authentic parts of the episode...
Episode 3 focuses on an interview with 13-year-old accused killer Jamie and clinical psychologist Briony Ariston. In total, the episode is 50 minutes long and the actual scene between the two runs for about 44 minutes without any cuts or edits.
It was also Jamie actor Owen's first time ever on set as he had never had any professional acting experience before. (Talk about being thrown into the deep end!)
About 10 minutes or so into the episode, there's a moment where Jamie yawns while Briony is talking to him. Turns out, that was actually Owen yawning for real and Erin had to quickly adapt and react in the moment to keep the scene moving.
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Speaking to Tudum, director Phil Barantini confirmed that Jamie's yawn was completely unscripted and came about as a result of Owen's long day on set.
"Owen didn’t do that in any of the other takes," he said. "I didn’t tell him to do that. That was the very last take. We were all behind the monitors going, ‘Oh my God!’"
But instead of scrapping the take and starting again, Erin managed to quickly improvise and steer the scene back on track with one simple in-character comment.
“It was the second take and, you know, I was tired so a yawn came to me," Owen said during a recent TV appearance of the improvised moment.
“Then Erin did an amazing line, she said, ‘Am I boring you?’," he added, explaining the that moment caught him off guard. "So, that took me back and it made me smile, because it wasn’t in the script. I wasn’t expecting that at all, so it took me back a little bit, but it was amazing."
Praising Erin's performance, co-creator Jack Thorne said: "Erin is so brilliant as an actor and so generous. You do not know what she’ll do next — not just as herself on screen, but what she’ll do for the other actor. She will respond. She will go any way you ask her to go. And she’ll do a different take each time. That generosity is so crucial to Episode 3."
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So, there you have it... the yawn and the smirk that Jamie gives to Briony in that scene? Totally unscripted.
And if Owen and Erin hadn't been able to recover from it as well as they did, they would have had to scrap the entire scene and start again.
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