Who is Forever star Michael Cooper Jr? His surprising background and love life explored

However Michael didn't grow up with his sights set on becoming an actor; in fact, as a teenager himself, he focused on playing football, with the goal of attending college to study law and politics. 

But like for many actors, the decision to expand his extra-curricular activities saw him take part in school plays during his senior year and everything changed.

In 2020, he moved to Atlanta to pursue acting full-time, and was cast in The Inhabitant and On the Come Up, directed by Sanaa Lathan.

Now 23, he has scored his biggest role yet, as Justin in Forever, and it is a role that he says "challenged" him in what he wasn't expecting.

"Justin is not me, and I really wanted to challenge myself and step into something that isn’t me,” he said.

"We don’t see a lot of sensitive Black men on-screen, but we’re all humans, and we all have emotions. I’m glad that it was explored so beautifully in this way  … we aren’t [synonymous with] toxic masculinity. The trope was dead in the show, and that’s what I really resonated with."

He visited a private school in Atlanta to speak to teenagers, a gift he says helped to inform how he played Justin: "When I tell you there are so many Justins. I would sit and talk with them. And they’re not represented. 

"All we see are these hard guys, with these ripped bodies, and we want to see someone who’s real."

Offscreen Michael has also been handling the end of a relationship, which happened during filming for Forever, and he shared that he was able to channel  what Justin was going through into real life as well.

"My ex-girlfriend, we split around that time [of filming], and I was able to use some of the life lessons and the pain," he told The Huffington Post.

He continued: "Because it’s so prominent where guys are taught to suppress, suppress, suppress. Justin is emotionally vulnerable and available, and I think that could be a tool. A lot of things that I was able to use while playing him and exploit in this beautiful way, that also healed me… It was a gift that I didn’t really know I needed."

Forever… was published in 1975 and focuses on two teens as they explore sex and the concept of love together. The novel has been a frequent target of censorship because of its subject matter, and the use of birth control by the main character.

The Netflix version recenters Katherine and Michael as Keisha and Justin, two Black teenagers.

Keisha is introduced as she transfers to an all-girls private school, seeking a fresh start while hiding the truth about why she had to leave her old school.

At a New Year's Eve party she reconnects with a childhood friend, Justin, and the pair discover a friendship and safety that allows them to explore what it means to grow up.