Olivia Kate Cooke (born 27 December 1993) is an English actress. Since 2013, she has co-starred as Emma Decody in the A&E drama-thriller television series Bates Motel. Prior to this, she appeared in two BBC miniseries, Blackout and The Secret of Crickley Hall. In 2014, Cooke starred in three supernatural thriller films: The Quiet Ones, The Signal, and Ouija. These roles have given her the reputation of a contemporary scream queen. In 2015, she portrayed Rachel Kushner in the comedy-drama Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.
Cooke was born and raised in Oldham, Greater Manchester. She comes from a family of non-actors; her father, John Cooke, is a retired police officer, and her mother, Lindsy (née Wild), is a sales representative. She has a younger sister, Eleanor. When Cooke was a child, her parents divorced, and she and her younger sister lived with their mother. Cooke attended Royton and Crompton Secondary School and studied drama at Oldham Sixth Form College, leaving before the end of her A-levels to star in Blackout.
At a young age, Cooke practised ballet and gymnastics. She started acting when she was 8 years old at an after-school drama programme in her hometown, called the Oldham Theatre Workshop. For years, Cooke performed only as part of the ensemble, until she was 17, when she starred as Maria in Oldham Sixth Form College's production of West Side Story. Soon after, Cooke landed her first and last leading role for the Oldham Theatre, in Prom: The Musical, a remake of Cinderella.
When she was 14, Cooke secured her first local talent agent in Manchester, who placed her in a number of commercials. In 2012, she appeared in One Direction's "Autumn Term" tour video, as a student getting a piggyback ride from Harry Styles. During her audition for this bit part, Cooke entertained the producers by performing a split. Although Cooke's agent discouraged her from enrolling in drama school because she was already getting acting work, Cooke was keen on applying to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). She made it to the final round of auditions, but was not accepted.
