Forever‘s Michael Cooper Jr. Broke Up With His Girlfriend While Filming the Show—His ‘Pain’ Inspired Justin
Jason Pham
Netflix has found its next romantic hit with Forever. The series, which premiered on May 8, 2025, stars newcomers Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr. as Keisha Clark and Justin Edwards, two teenagers from Los Angeles who become each other’s first love.
The series is an adaptation of Judy Blume’s 1975 novel of the same name, which, compared to the series, is set in the town of Westfield, New Jersey, and follows high school seniors Katherine Danziger and Michael Wagner. In an interview with Parade, Forever’s showrunner, Mara Brock Akil, explained the changes she made from the book to the series.
“I actually think Black boys are the most vulnerable because, as parents, we often have to prepare before they’re even thinking about sex, before they’re thinking about girls,” she said. “Sometimes you have to remind them about how society is viewing them as early as fourth and fifth grade. So when you decide to think about [your child having] a relationship with a girl, as a parent in a Black household, one of the heartbreaking conversations you have to have is about the perception of you being violent. You have to talk about very uncomfortable things.”
Netflix‘s Forever explores coming-of-age themes like sex, sexuality, social media, and family. It also introduces viewers to Simone and Cooper Jr. as the actors at the center of Keisha and Justin’s love story. Given the many teen show actors who have dated in real life—such as Outer Banks‘ Chase Stokes and Madelyn Cline, Gossip Girl‘s Blake Lively and Penn Badgley, The O.C.’s Rachel Bilson and Adam Brody, and Riverdale‘s Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse (to name a few)—it’s understandable why fans are wondering whether Simone and Cooper’s on-screen relationship has made its way off-screen as well.
Are Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr. dating in real life?
While Simone and Cooper haven’t confirmed their relationship statuses, as of writing, it doesn’t seem like they’re dating in real life. Their love lives also seem to be much different than Keisha and Justin, given that they’ve both been in relationships before.
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Cooper opened up about the anxiety he experienced while planning dates for his first girlfriend. “It was this palpable love that you can’t shake,” he said. “I was like, ‘I want to take her to the beach! I want to take her hiking! I want to have a picnic!’ It sticks with you and shapes your idea of how you see the world. And it made me put someone else before myself.”
Simone, for her part, revealed that she kept her first relationship a secret. “I’m from the Bronx, so we would sneak away to Times Square in Manhattan and link up and go on dates to the movies and stuff. I remember he got me a Swarovski bracelet and I had to hide it,” she said. “I was 15 or 16. He was a year older. When it ended, I was just so distraught for, like, two years. Just a mess. But it makes you put yourself first, eventually.”
Cooper also revealed to The Huffington Post that he broke up with his ex-girlfriend while he was filming Forever, which played a part in his performance. “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 said. “I don’t have it as extreme as he does, but when I have tunnel vision for something, I have tunnel vision.”
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.”
