PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — MyKey Cooper is a 16-year-old from North Philadelphia with a lot of talent and charisma. The multi-talented actor, poet and rapper is one of the youngest writers for Jimmy Fallon's "Kids Tonight Show" on Peacock.
"I star as Krane in the premiere of 'Power Book III: Raising Kanan,' which was 50 Cent's spinoff to the series 'Power,'" he said.
"And most recently, March 18, Amy Schumer comes out with her Hulu series called 'Life & Beth' which I star in and reoccur in as young Levar, which is beautiful."
Cooper has been in the entertainment industry since he was just six years old. His mother started him in home school at an early age once she realized it was better suited for his life path.
"My third grade teacher, Ms. Nicole Malino Johnson ... was a beautiful spirit," he recalled. "She nurtured everything, she saw the gifts in me before I saw them and even knew I had them. She ... just nurtured those gifts, so she was the one who was like, 'You're reading on a 12th grade reading level.'"
Cooper said he's thankful for her, as well as his mother who's his inspiration.
"She is definitely proud of me. That's my backbone. That's my support system. I know that she is the most proud of me out of everybody," he said.
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Cooper's mission is not only to share his gifts with the world, but he also hopes to inspire others to go after their dreams. And he says he hopes to change perspectives and misconceptions about the place he calls home.
"That is the mission: to reshape that perspective that all North Philly is known for is killing and the city in general is just known for the homicide rates and all of that," he said. "It's not, there's light in the city, beautiful light in the city and I try to shine a light on that everywhere I go and be a walking representation of it."
He also wants to shine a light on others from the area making it in the industry.
"My cousin Jerrie Johnson, from North Philadelphia herself, stars alongside Meagan Good, Grace Byers in 'Harlem' on Amazon Prime. She plays Ty on Harlem. Also, her friend who she went to high school with, Brett Gray from North Philly as well, stars in 'On My Block,'" he said.
"Just beautiful people from Philly, young people, young millennials who are doing their thing, and doing their thing for their city and showing them that we got talent here and talent out of here. And good things come out of here too."
Cooper, who will be a senior next year, said he plans to spend a couple of gap years auditioning and building his career in New York. In the future, he also dreams of coming back to Philly to create opportunities for local youth.
"Give them the resources to see those other outlets. So things like workshops, and classes and stuff like that, for people of all entertaining fields who want an artistic outlet to want to do something else," he said. "There's a light in them that could be nurtured and brought to the forefront.”
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In the meantime, remember the name, because MyKey Cooper is the next big star to watch out for.
"My mission in life is to shine a good light on my people. My mission in life is to create art that tells a story and leaves a legacy for the Black people to come in the future," he said.
"My mission in life is to tell our story like it's never been told before, alongside other black creatives, because it seems as if this industry has forgotten that our culture is one of the most predominant cultures in the world, and that it has influenced every piece of art that we touch.”
You can follow Cooper's journey on his Instagram, and listen to the full conversation with him on the KYW Newsradio original podcast "Bridging Philly."
