Newcomer Michael Cooper Jr.’s experience on Mara Brock Akil’s coming-of-age drama Forever has been life-changing.

Based on the 1975 Judy Blume novel of the same name and told through a modern lens, the eight-episode Netflix series is an exploration of young love. Cooper plays Justin Edwards, an inexperienced and somewhat awkward L.A. teenager.

“One line Mara wrote in the script was that he has one foot in confidence and the other foot in insecurity,” Cooper tells The Hollywood Reporter over a Zoom call, explaining his character who also plays on his high school basketball team. “I thought that was so beautiful that I was able to layer that in the show. To see [him] grow throughout was really special. That was a treat, as an actor, that Mara gave me.”

Newcomer Michael Cooper Jr.’

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