INTERVIEW: Jordan E. Cooper on telling stories and helping stories be told
Photo: Uppercut features Jordan E. Cooper in the role of Payne. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate / Provided by KWPR with permission.
The new boxing drama Uppercut, starring Ving Rhames and Luise Grossmann, is now playing in movie theaters and available on digital platforms. The film, which is written and directed by Torsten Ruether, also features Joanna Cassidy, of Blade Runner fame, and Jordan E. Cooper, an accomplished actor, writer and showrunner who has always dreamed of being in a boxing film.
“I’m a big fan of boxing films, and so I was literally watching Creed III,” Cooper said in a recent Zoom interview. “And I told myself, ‘Sometimes you have to manifest things.’ I told myself, ‘I want to do a boxing film. I can’t wait until I get a chance to stretch myself in that way, not as a performer, but also be able to train my body physically.’ And then maybe about two months later, Uppercut came across my desk, and I was like, ‘Yo, finally, I get a chance to stretch myself in that way and join in helping somebody tell the story, with me being able to really challenge myself as an actor.’ And so that was the thing that really drew me in that I couldn’t wait to help Torsten do that for sure.”
Cooper has many credits to his name. He was the creative force behind Broadway’s Ain’t No Mo’, a Tony-nominated show that he also starred in. He’s the creator and showrunner of The Ms. Pat Show on BET+, and he’s also been featured on TV’s Pose. Typically he’s in the driver’s seat when it comes to content creation, but he also relishes the chance to help others bring their own vision to life.
“It’s a different tool set,” Cooper said about his experience on Uppercut. “Normally it’s me with all the paint colors, and I’m creating something on the canvas. When you’re an actor and a performer, it’s up to you to be the canvas, you know, and so it’s always interesting to go into a new situation with a new storyteller and help them articulate what it is that’s in their head. It’s cool to be able to do that. I love doing that. I get to do it soon with Freakier Friday. I’m in Freaky Friday 2 with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, so that’s going to be a lot of fun, too. And that was the same kind of thing, coming in and helping the vision get told, which is always fun. It feels like going to the gym. I love it.”
Cooper said that even when he’s not writing, directing and showrunning there is still pressure to get the job done and ensure that the acting is solid. He called it a different kind of pressure than being in the driver’s seat.
“It’s not necessarily the creative-choices pressure or how-the-story-is-told kind of pressure because that’s the one I’m used to,” he said. “It’s like, OK, how do I want to tell the story? But it’s a different level. The pressure is now how can I help this person tell this story. … How can I present it back to them what they’ve asked for, which is also really fun and just cool to play with.”
In the movie, Cooper plays the character of Payne Harris, a boxer. The actor called him a “peacock” who has a lot to prove, but he finds his own worth within the sport and the success he finds in the ring. Helping him play this character was Ruether, the writer and director.
“It was cool,” Cooper said of working with the filmmaker. “I loved watching him be a maestro on the set. It was also really cool because he leaves rooms for humanity in a nice way. ‘This is the thing that I see. Now I have to be prepared for a human to actually embody that,’ which is a really beautiful dance that directors have to do, and he’s really good at doing that dance for sure.”
When Cooper signs up for a project like Uppercut, he still needs to keep himself busy with the many other projects he has in development. A writer always writes, and a storyteller is always thinking about the next story. That stated, he also likes to focus on the here and now.
“I usually have to multitask, but I have to be where my feet are,” he admitted. “I have to take advantage of where my feet are. I’m on set right now for The Ms. Pat Show, which I showrun, and it’s one of those things where when I’m in production, sometimes it takes a while for me to look at cuts because I want to make sure we’re getting everything we’re getting on camera. And then it’s like, OK, let me go, and then I can do the cuts and set aside time to actually make it be what I want it to be. It’s like you’re on a conveyor belt in a factory, and you’re switching hats at all times as you’re going down that conveyor belt, which is a process that can be a lot. But I love it. I love storytelling. I really just love telling stories, and it’s a privilege to for sure. Anytime that anything happens, it’s like, ‘Yo, we get to make TV. That’s cool. We get to make TV.'”
Cooper reported that production on the fifth season of The Ms. Pat Show is going extremely well. He said that the audience members will be particularly happy with the talented guest stars they have on the new set of episodes. He’s also impressed that they made it this far; in the world of streaming, a fifth season is not always guaranteed.
“I also act on the show, last season and this season, too,” he said. “They were all like, ‘Why don’t you put yourself in the show? You’re an actor. Why don’t you?’ So I finally did. I finally found a role where I was like, ‘OK, I can have fun with this.’ I’ve been playing with that. That’s a good time.”
For New Yorkers, one of the fondest memories of Cooper’s work is when he brought Ain’t No Mo’ to Broadway. Although the play, which deals with race and society in the United States through a series of vignettes, received a closing notice not too long after opening, Cooper and the team were able to rally audience members and continue performances beyond the initial shuttering. Then the Tony Awards cemented the show in history with a number of nominations.
“I have some beautiful memories and also lessons learned, too, in a really beautiful way,” Cooper said of his Broadway experience. “But that cast, they’re just amazing. The way audiences showed up for us and loved on that show, it was the kind of support that I’ve never seen in commercial theater before. It was super, super special, and the story unfortunately feels more relevant now than it ever did. So that’s a double-edged sword, but, yeah, I’m so grateful for that time.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Uppercut, featuring Jordan E. Cooper, is now available in theaters, on digital and on demand. Click here for more information.
