Jake Gyllenhaal gave Adolescence star Owen Cooper a good luck charm before the 2025 Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 14.
In a social media video shared by Netflix ahead of the awards show, Cooper, 15, was asked who he was most excited to see at the ceremony. “I think everyone knows that Jake Gyllenhaal is my top, No. 1,” Cooper replied.
The clip then cut to show Gyllenhaal, 44, walking down the hallway to surprise Cooper, saying he felt “nervous” and “excited” to meet the talented teen.
As Gyllenhaal rounded the corner, Cooper did a double take and exclaimed, “Oh, my God,” while covering his face with his hands. The two actors then shared a sweet hug.
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“It’s so nice to meet you,” Gyllenhaal said before offering Cooper a small box. “I have a present for you. I made this movie and I got nominated for an Academy Award, and a friend of mine sent me this before. Something just like this.”
Cooper unwrapped the gift as Gyllenhaal explained that a “lucky duck” was inside. “[It’s] to keep in your pocket, to give you a little bit of luck,” the Donnie Darko star said.
Jake Gyllenhaal surprises Adolesence’s Owen Cooper before the Emmys
pic.twitter.com/qKEwi1iD80
— Netflix (@netflix) September 14, 2025
Following the heartwarming moment, Gyllenhaal joked that Cooper had been “talking about me too much” leading up to Sunday’s awards show. “I figured I’d just stop it and get it done,” he teased.
Cooper had made his interest in meeting Gyllenhaal known, recently gushing over the actor during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“If I’m sat next to him, he’s not gonna have a good night,” Cooper joked earlier this month. “I’m just gonna be talking to him the whole night.”
Both Cooper and Gyllenhaal were nominated at the 2025 Emmy Awards on Sunday. Cooper took home the trophy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his work on Adolescence, becoming the youngest male Emmy winner in history.
“Standing up here… wow this is so surreal,” he said while accepting his award. “Tonight proves that if you listen and you focus and you step out of your comfort you can achieve anything in life.”
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Cooper continued, “I was nothing about three years ago, I’m here now. It may have my name on this award but it really belongs to the people behind the camera and all the cast.”
Gyllenhaal, for his part, was up for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his role on the Apple TV+ series Presumed Innocent but finished the night empty-handed, losing to Cooper’s costar Stephen Graham.
“This sort of thing doesn’t normally happen to a kid like me … so for me to be here today in front of my peers and to be acknowledged by you is the utmost humbling thing I could ever imagine in my life, and it shows you that any dream is possible,” the 52-year-old said on stage.
