Olivia Cooke Bio
Olivia Kate Cooke (born 27 December 1993) is an English actress with a body of work spanning television and film. She first gained attention for television roles before moving into feature films, appearing in titles that range from genre horror to prestige drama and high-profile fantasy series.
Early Life and Background
Olivia Kate Cooke was born on 27 December 1993 in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, to Lindsay Wilde and John Cooke. Her mother worked in sales and her father served as a police officer; her parents divorced when she was a child and she lived with her mother.
Cooke began acting at age eight at the Oldham Theatre Workshop, an after-school drama programme in her hometown. She attended Royton and Crompton Academy and studied drama at Oldham Sixth Form College, leaving before completing A-levels to accept early television work.
Path to Celebrity
Cooke built early experience in regional theatre and local casting that led to commercial work and television auditions. She secured a local agent at 14 and moved into professional casting, which established a foundation for national and international screen opportunities.
Despite not gaining a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art after reaching the final audition round, Cooke began booking substantive television roles and attracted attention from casting directors in both the United Kingdom and the United States. That transition set the stage for recurring and lead roles on television and an expanding film career.
Olivia Cooke Career
Early Career (2012–2014)
Cooke’s screen career took off in 2012 with three BBC miniseries credits, including Blackout and The Secret of Crickley Hall. Those early television appearances established her range and led to a U.S.-based agent in Los Angeles.
Her early film work includes The Quiet Ones and The Signal, the latter of which screened at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2014 she starred as Laine Morris in Ouija, a commercially successful horror film that grossed over $100 million worldwide.
Breakthrough (2015–2018)
Cooke’s profile rose significantly with her performance in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015), a coming-of-age film that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. For the role she shaved her head to portray a young woman battling leukemia; the film won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at Sundance.
Following that breakthrough, Cooke appeared in a string of notable projects. She played the lead in Katie Says Goodbye and appeared in Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem, Thoroughbreds, and the Steven Spielberg film Ready Player One (2018). She also starred as Becky Sharp in the ITV adaptation of Vanity Fair in 2018.
Established Work and Recent Projects (2019–present)
In 2019 Cooke co-starred in Sound of Metal, a drama that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and appeared in the Amazon Prime Video anthology Modern Love. She continued television work with a role in Apple TV+ series Slow Horses as MI5 agent Sidonie Baker.
Cooke joined the cast of HBO’s House of the Dragon in 2022, portraying Alicent Hightower in the high-profile fantasy series. In 2025 she starred in The Girlfriend, a psychological thriller miniseries for Amazon Prime Video. Across these projects she has balanced genre films, independent drama and television series with international reach.
Notable Works and Milestones
Signature performances for Cooke include Emma Decody on Bates Motel, Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair, and Alicent Hightower in House of the Dragon. Her early decision to take on varied roles—from Ouija’s genre lead to the emotionally demanding Me and Earl and the Dying Girl—helped establish her reputation for versatility and willingness to take physical and emotional risks for a part.
Olivia Cooke Award Nominations
Publicly available, verified records supplied with these inputs do not list a comprehensive set of major individual award nominations for Cooke. While films and projects featuring Cooke have received festival recognition and awards, detailed, verified listings of personal nominations are not provided in the supplied sources.
Olivia Cooke Awards Won
Verified sources show that projects featuring Cooke have earned accolades, most notably Me and Earl and the Dying Girl receiving the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. There is no verified record in the provided material of major personal award wins attributed solely to Cooke.
Olivia Cooke Family
Olivia Cooke is the daughter of Lindsay Wilde and John Cooke. Her parents separated during her childhood and she and her sister were raised by their mother in Oldham. The family background and early regional training at the Oldham Theatre Workshop informed her early path into acting.
Personal Life
Cooke has maintained a private personal life. Publicly verifiable details show she was living in London as of 2020. No verified public records in the supplied inputs list children or a current partner, and she is identified professionally by her full name Olivia Kate Cooke.