He then became an associate director at the Royal Court for Ian Rickson in 1999 during which time he directed Fireface by Marius von Mayenburg, Other People by Christopher Shinn and Redundant by Leo Butler.
Bola Agbaje won an Olivier with her first play ‘Gone Too Far!’"[2] In 2007 Cooke wrote the stage adaptation of Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses, which he directed and produced at the RSC.
With scriptwriter Ben Power, Cooke co-wrote the scripts for Shakespeare's Henry VI Parts 1 and 2 for BBC TV's The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (May 2016).
Cooke is a National Theatre Associate Director; he made his directing debut there in November 2011 with Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors which he set in modern-day London.
[4][5] His 2017 production of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's Follies starring Imelda Staunton, Janie Dee and Tracie Bennett was nominated for ten Olivier Awards,[6] winning Best Musical Revival.
The series was produced by Sam Mendes' company, Neal Street Productions, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, Sophie Okonedo, Tom Sturridge, and Hugh Bonneville.
Cooke's feature directorial debut, On Chesil Beach starring Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2017.
[9][10] His latest film The Courier starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan and Jessie Buckley, premiered at Sundance in January 2020.