Born on June 2, 1978, Cooper grew up in the East London borough of Greenwich. He began acting while he was a student at the Thomas Tallis School, where his valuable addition to drama productions like “Cabaret” offset a lackluster academic performance. He went on to train with the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art and relatively soon after graduating in 2000, began landing stage work. He jumped right into the bawdy role of a male prostitute in “Mother Clap’s Molly House,” which had runs at the Lyttleton and Royal National Theaters. He switched gears, landing a role in the Royal National Theatre production of “His Dark Materials,” playing a 12-year-old in an adaptation of the popular children’s book.
When the play closed in 2004, Cooper continued working with director of the previous two works, Nicholas Hytner; this time creating the role of Dakin for the original staging of Alan Bennett’s “The History Boys.” The play followed a group of North London schoolboys – including Cooper’s cocky, self-assured Dakin – as they prepare to take college entrance exams amid classroom anarchy and staff rivalry. It was a rousing success that carried Cooper from the Royal National Theater to stages in Hong Kong, Sydney, New Zealand, and New York, where it won Tonys for Best Play and Best Director. The play went on to become one of the rare examples of a stage to film adaptation (2006) that utilized the original cast and director, with Cooper finding himself in front of a worldwide audience. The British newspaper, The Observer, predicted Cooper was on his way to become a defining talent of his generation, while the British Independent Film Awards nominated him for Most Promising Newcomer.
After finally retiring his school uniform, the devoted stage actor decided to take advantage of the buzz and spend time developing his big screen reputation. He had previously landed a small role in films like Neil Jordan’s “Breakfast on Pluto” and took a supporting role in the well-received comedy “Starter for Ten” (2007), playing the college student friend of an aspiring quiz show contestant. In 2007, Cooper also shot the films “The Escapist" (2008) and “Brief Interviews with Hideous Men” (2009), as well as began production on a film adaptation of the ABBA-centric stage musical, “Mamma Mia” (2008). Of the three, only "Mama Mia" made the most impact at the box office.