Born in England in the mid-1990s, Olivia Cooke initially had dreams of ballet when she grew up, excelling as a dancer and a gymnast. Even when she turned to acting in her youth, it was mostly in background roles that kept her dancing. In 2010, she emerged from the background, starring in musicals in her hometown Oldham Theatre. Her performances earned her recognition, and soon, she was appearing on BBC miniseries, including "Blackout" (BBC 2012) and "The Secret of Crickley Hall" (BBC 2012). She even appeared briefly in a One Direction music video. In 2012, Cooke filmed the supernatural thriller "The Quiet Ones" (2014), which she starred in alongside Jared Harris. After a positive experience and reception with her work in England, she set her sights for Hollywood, quickly managing to land a role on the Psycho prequel "Bates Motel" (A&E 2013-17) as Emma Decody. In between "Bates Motel" seasons, Cooke continued to act in movies, including the sci-fi thriller "The Signal" (2014) and horror flick "Ouija" (2014), the latter of which she was the main protagonist. The next year, Cooke played the titular dying girl in "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" (2015), going to the extent of shaving her head for the role. She even dabbled in voice acting for an episode of "Axe Cop" (Fox/FXX 2013- ). In 2015, Cooke was announced as the female lead in Steven Spielberg film "Ready Player One" (2017).