Daisy May Cooper is an English actor and writer best known for combining sharp comedy with an unusually observant view of everyday life. She first attracted widespread attention through the BBC mockumentary This Country, which she created and wrote with her younger brother, Charlie Cooper. Her performance as Kerry Mucklowe turned her into one of British television comedy’s most distinctive performers, while later work has shown that her range extends beyond straightforward sitcom acting.
Early Life and Background
Born in 1986 in Basingstoke, Hampshire, Cooper grew up in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, alongside Charlie. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and graduated in 2010. After leaving drama school, however, professional acting work was difficult to secure. Cooper and Charlie returned home and worked night shifts as cleaners while developing the idea that would eventually become This Country.
That experience helped shape the grounded, observational style that became central to their writing. Rather than building comedy around exaggerated situations, the siblings drew on the quirks and frustrations of ordinary rural life.
Career Highlights
This Country premiered on BBC Three in 2017, with Cooper playing Kerry and Charlie portraying her cousin Kurtan. The series quickly developed a strong audience and earned major recognition. In 2018, Cooper won the BAFTA Television Award for Female Performance in a Comedy Programme, while This Country won Scripted Comedy. Cooper and Charlie were also recognised as BAFTA Breakthrough Talent.
Her career subsequently broadened into drama and comedy across television and film. She appeared in The Personal History of David Copperfield, Avenue 5, The Witchfinder and Rain Dogs, demonstrating that her performances could work in very different tones.
Most Famous Work
For many viewers, This Country remains Cooper’s defining project. Its humour came from the awkwardness, boredom and small ambitions of its characters, and Kerry gave Cooper room to combine physical comedy with a more vulnerable side.
She later co-created and starred as Nic in Am I Being Unreasonable?, alongside Selin Hizli. The BBC series mixes dark comedy with thriller elements and has become an important part of her later career.
Family
Cooper is the older sister of actor and writer Charlie Cooper, with whom she has had one of her most important creative partnerships. Her family background has remained closely connected to her work, particularly through the sibling collaboration behind This Country.
In her personal life, Cooper has three children. She shares two older children with former husband Will Weston and welcomed a son with partner Anthony Huggins in 2024.
Current Career and Latest Project
Cooper is currently focused on the third and final series of Am I Being Unreasonable? Filming began in 2026, with Cooper returning as Nic and co-writing the series with Selin Hizli. The BBC has confirmed that the final series will return to BBC iPlayer and BBC One later in 2026, making it the latest major chapter in her television career.
