Charlie Cooper (actor)

Charlie Cooper (born 16 June 1989)[1] is an English actor and writer, known for his role as Lee "Kurtan" Mucklowe in the BBC Three series This Country, which he co-created and co-wrote alongside his older sister, Daisy May Cooper.

Charlie Cooper
Born (1989-06-16) 16 June 1989
Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England
Occupations
  • Actor
  • writer
  • model
Years active2014–present
RelativesDaisy May Cooper (sister)
Trevor Cooper (uncle)

Career

Cooper began his career in his early 20s as a model while at the University of Southampton studying physiotherapy. He was signed to Elite Model Management in London.[2] He grew dissatisfied with modelling shortly afterward and returned home to Cirencester with his parents and worked a series of odd jobs, including positions at retailers Argos and Topshop and in a sausage factory.[3][4]

In 2014, he and his sister Daisy May, with the support of ITV and NBC, wrote and shot a pilot episode of what would later become This Country titled Kerry. However, the resulting episode was "horrible" and it was quickly dropped.[5][6] Later he became an actor and co-writer of the BBC comedy This Country with Daisy May, writing the characters Kerry and Kurtan based on their own life experiences living in the Cotswolds.[3][7][8]

In 2018, he was nominated for and won three Royal Television Awards for best Scripted Comedy, Comedy Performance and Comedy Writing.[9] He was also nominated for and won best Scripted Comedy at the 2018 BAFTA awards for his work in This Country,[10] as well as winning Breakthrough Talent at the BAFTA Craft Awards.[11] In 2020, he co-wrote and produced the teleplay for an episode of Avenue 5, an HBO series that features his sister in a recurring role.

He starred alongside Steve Coogan in a scene in the 2019 film Greed.

In 2021, Cooper took on a role in the third series of Stath Lets Flats, playing Gregory - a rival letting agent.[12][13]

In September 2022, Cooper played his first "big film role" as Dennis Corrigan in See How They Run.[14]

Personal life

Brought up in Cirencester, he and his sister used to make films using their mother's camcorder. After studying sports science at Exeter University for two years, Cooper dropped out to live with his sister in London, who was studying drama at RADA.[5] They both returned to their childhood home, where they shared a room, and worked night shifts as office cleaners whilst creating scripts for This Country.[4] He is a fan of Fulham F.C., having attended their play-off final in 2018.[15][16] In August 2022, Cooper welcomed his first child.[17]

References
  1. "CHARLIE COOPER LIMITED".
  2. "Charlie Cooper". Elite Model Management. 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  3. Jones, Alice (8 March 2017). "This Country's Daisy May and Charlie Cooper: 'It's basically our experience of growing up in the Cotswolds'". i. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  4. "What happened next? The stars of This Country: 'Success? I wish that showed up on my bloody bank balance'". the Guardian. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  5. "Daisy May and Charlie Cooper: 'We had nothing before This Country. We couldn't even afford McDonald's'". The Independent. 16 February 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  6. Yeates, Cydney (12 August 2020). "This Country's Kerry and Kurtan were 'like Glee characters' in binned pilot". Metro. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  7. "How are the cast of This Country related?". Radio Times. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  8. Heritage, Stuart (22 February 2017). "This Country: perfect, horrifying TV for anyone who grew up in a village". The Guardian.
  9. Smith, Neil (21 March 2018). "This Country wins big at RTS awards". BBC News.
  10. Lane, Ellis (14 May 2018). "How the siblings behind BBC hit This Country stole the BAFTA show". gloucestershirelive.co.uk. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  11. "Nominations Announced for the Virgin TV British Academy Television Awards in 2018". www.bafta.org. 4 April 2018.
  12. Danaher, Caitlin (7 September 2021). "Julia Davis, Charlie Cooper and David Avery to guest star in Stath Lets Flats". Royal Television Society.
  13. Carr, Flora (3 September 2021). "Stath Lets Flats season 3 casts Julia Davis and This Country's Charlie Cooper". Radio Times.
  14. Levine, Nick (6 September 2022). "Charlie Cooper: "Daisy saw something in me that no one else would have"". NME. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  15. "Charlie Cooper Exclusive". fulhamfc.com. 24 May 2018.
  16. "Daisy & Charlie Cooper – Writer/Performers". www.bafta.org. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  17. Levine, Nick (6 September 2022). "Charlie Cooper: "Daisy saw something in me that no one else would have"". NME. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
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