Throughout All American’s six seasons, Bre-Z has watched her character, Coop, go from gang affiliate to lawyer in training — and she couldn’t be happier for how her story has played out.
“I love it because these were conversations we were having internally,” the actress, 37, exclusively told Us Weekly about Coop’s law school journey. “I wanted to see Coop progress. I wanted to change the narrative and show the light within a person like me because the representation of that has a dark cloud over it. And the Black masculine-presenting woman, nine times out of 10, would remain in a particular space and not progress.”
When All American premiered in 2018, Coop found herself out on the street after her parents kicked her out for being gay. She later got caught up in childhood pal Shawn’s (Jay Reeves) gang in hopes of making enough money to survive on her own. When Shawn was shot due to gang related violence, Coop eventually pivoted her life to pursue music, before eventually finding her passion in law. The last two seasons of the CW series have seen Coop studying alongside Los Angeles District Attorney Laura Baker (Monet Mazur) and working her way into law school.
“I wanted to see [Coop] do something. Like, can she take something serious? Let’s really show her put her best foot forward,” Bre-Z said of pitching a change in Coop’s story lines. “Let’s show her change her attitude, change her mindset, be encouraged and inspired by her peers. Let’s tell that story.”
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Bre-Z said that co-showrunners Nkechi Okoro Carroll and Jameal Turner agreed with her vision for the character, and Coop’s future was recalibrated. “We all [stood] in solidarity with that,” she said, “and just telling the stories that are not told.”
For Bre-Z, the past few seasons of the teen dramedy have been about taking Coop “out of her adolescent phase” and “giving her something to work toward.” The actress said that making law Coop’s ultimate passion forces the character to take her future more seriously than ever before.
“With something like law, you have to know what you’re doing. You’re not going to fly under the radar,” she explained. “You’re not going to fail a test. You have no excuse. So this is something that we have to see real work be put in.”
Bre-Z noted that she hopes the pivot will help Coop become more popular on social media as she and the writers have seen comments that claim Coop is an “annoying” character at times.
“We wanted to change the narrative for her because that’s how it happens, especially for Black people,” she told Us. “So we wanted to make sure that we just did a great thing with her. Hopefully we continue on with that for her. It’s honestly helped me as a person.”
All American was renewed for a seventh season in June — and while little is known about where the show is headed outside lead Daniel Ezra’s exit as a series regular, Bre-Z is hoping Coop will continue to evolve in all aspects of her life, not only her career.
“I think the first shift was exiting that street life that she was just so immune to. I think for this next phase, I want to see her actually grow up a bit. I want to see her develop some emotional intelligence, I want to see her personal relationships and love life change and grow and compliment the seriousness that she’s taken in her life,” she said, referring to Coop’s on-off romance with girlfriend Patience, played by Chelsea Tavares. “I want to see everything around her speak to that. I don’t want her to keep a childlike high school [mentality], like, ‘You’re my girlfriend, you’re not my girlfriend.’ I really want to see her take that seriousness of law into every area of her life.”
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Bre-Z added that allowing for that type of on screen representation is of paramount importance, especially for the LGBTQIA+ community. “To see some growth in your partner, to see the support from a partner,” she explained. “And for masculine-presenting women like myself to see that so the mindset can begin to change.”
She continued, “I’ve been a queer woman my entire life; these things [like sexual identity] start very young. So to be on television playing a younger character, that’s where it starts. So let’s start there.”
All American is expected to return to The CW for season 7 in 2025.
With reporting by Travis Cronin.
