“Forever” felt like a breath of fresh air. Whether viewers were collectively releasing a “woosah” watching the Black feel-good show or healing a piece of their inner lover girl or lover boy, Mara Brock Akil’s latest creation had everyone feeling all the feels—including actor Michael Cooper Jr., who played Justin on the hit show.
During a recent appearance on Keke Palmer’s “Baby, this is Keke Palmer” podcast, the “Forever” creator Akil and actors Cooper Jr and Wood Harris, who played Eric (aka social media’s new favorite TV dad), discussed how healing it was to work on the show.
“I’ve been in love,” Cooper Jr. shared. “It’s funny, I would even talk to Mara and Anthony [Hemingway] on set and be like, ‘Does he really have to cry in this scene? Does he have to cry?’ and Mara would be like ‘yeah he needs to cry a little bit’ and so it kind of healed me in a sense of being able to be vulnerable, and it healed me from past relationships that I got to pull from and use [when acting].”
Inspired by Judy Blume’s 1975 book “Forever,” the Netflix show follows Justin and Keisha (played by Lovie Simone) as they navigate the complex realities of being Black teenagers in 2018, experiencing their first love and the ups and downs of teenagehood. However, unlike other coming-of-age stories, which only tend to appeal to specific audiences, Akil’s production resonated with social media users across genders and generations.
“Mara knows her story so well and it’s so specific [that] I think anybody who’s watching the show can connect with [it] whether you’re a Keisha or a Justin, or you’re a little bit of everybody,” Cooper Jr. continued. “She has this magic touch with creating these fully dimensional characters.”
The complexity of the show’s characters shines through everyone on “Forever,” but particularly through Justin, whom Cooper Jr. describes as “having one foot in confidence and the other foot in insecurity. ” This often created a palpable vulnerability throughout the show that many men can relate to but don’t usually show.
“We’re always cool,” Harris said, noting how young men are often portrayed in a certain light. “Everyone is [tired of that], and that’s why the show is successful. There’s been the repetition that all the black guys are dangerous, cool, they know how to get it, whatever it is, they know how to get it. Justin don’t know how to get it, he’s still trying to figure it out.”
“I think ‘Forever’ sort of like resets the dial a little bit about our story; it’s that deep. And the reason why, in my opinion, is because it’s taking our story, while the story is being taken away,” Harris added. “This is not a story about race…it’s a love story, and that’s what is needed to recalibrate our narrative.”
And the “Forever” creator revealed that love was not only the center of the storyline, but also the production behind the scenes.
“Everybody’s love is in the show,” Akil told Palmer. “We started every production meeting, every table read with ‘ this is a love story within a love letter to Los Angeles,’ and I asked everyone to remember their first love. Their first love, to their career, to their friends, to their romantic partner, to their parents, and can we put that in the show? So, I knew the love would come back, because I saw the love go in from everybody.”
