Netflix’s ‘Forever’ Star Lovie Simone Wants Viewers To “Have Fun With Love, Even Though It Can Hurt You”

In Netflix’s Forever, a brief childhood friendship becomes much more complex but endearing as time passes. Created by Mara Brock Akil, reimagined from the 1975 Judy Blume novel of the same name, the series follows Keisha (Lovie Simone) and Justin (Michael Cooper Jr.)—two childhood friends who reunite as teens—as they navigate the giddy highs and heartbreaking pitfalls of their first serious romantic relationship. 

Here, Simone speaks to Deadline about keeping calm on social media, working with her stacked cast and crew and the fun of portraying the life of a teenager.

DEADLINE: How did this project come to you, and how much did you know about the Judy Blume of it all? 

LOVIE SIMONE: I didn’t know about Judy Blume at all. She wasn’t of my time, but more of my mom’s time. But I definitely got the book once the audition was sent to me. I read the book in one sitting, and I was obsessed. I needed to be in it after that. I love books. For me, it’s like if I have the opportunity to be a part of a book that I was just reading and obsessed with and imagining all the things and how it looks, I want to take on that role. After reading the book, I was just even more obsessed with trying to be Keisha. 

DEADLINE: Regina King serves as executive producer and directs an episode. Talk more about working with her. 

SIMONE: She got a dialect coach for us because I’m from New York. Sometimes when I talk fast or I get passionate, that accent really pops out. So, it was about learning how to drop the New York accent a bit more. We also had conversations and did little activities. I remember when we first got to LA, me and Michael [Cooper Jr.] were with Regina in the studio, and she made us do this exercise where we pretended to be a six-year-old version of Justin and Keisha and literally just had to interact with one another as our six-year-old selves to see our origins. It was a lot of world-building around the making of these characters in this story. 

DEADLINE: What does physical preparation look like for a show like this, where you’re playing a character that loves sports? 

SIMONE: We got a trainer on set. I usually train off-set, just doing regular workouts, but I had a trainer on set for about a month and a half. His name is Khalid [Mutakabbir], and he did track stuff with us, as if we were real track athletes. It was really cool. Then, as far as the LA culture goes [because I am from New York], Regina [King] was very involved. She was making sure we were meeting up, hanging out and going outside in LA. She gave us a pair of all-white Vans and made us draw on them. It was really cute and cool to experience LA culture that way. 

DEADLINE: This story takes place throughout the latter half of the 2010s, just before the pandemic, instead of being set back in the ’70s like the novel. What does updating the relevance do for the show? 

SIMONE: I love the change. I think the change makes sense as far as nostalgia goes. I feel that Judy Blume’s book is a nostalgic piece. I do think an overlooked time of nostalgia is the moments leading up to the pandemic. We’re not considering it yet, but they do hold a lot of memories and energy for us, especially those two years right before the pandemic. That was the last little piece of norm for everybody, not just one country or city. It was everywhere. I do think everyone knows that sweetness that we all felt when everyone was just outside [doing] regular things. I love that [Mara Brock Akil] touched on that time, especially with what was going on in the country racially. 

DEADLINE: When you were playing this, did it take you back to any particular silly high school triggers? 

SIMONE: All I play is high school, so it was just another job. 

DEADLINE: It’s because you’re still in your mid-20s, young and gorgeous. 

SIMONE: I do like playing high schoolers. And with this one high schooler specifically, I feel like they’re the most go-getting spirits for themselves. That’s the time in your life when you’re going to ride for yourself the most, where you’re going to know suppression, but you’re not going to act like it even exists. You know what I mean? It’s like I love playing teenagers because they know exactly what they want to do, and it’s so fun just to see where you go with that. A lot of times, with older people, we just get used to the ways of the world. We’re like, “Oh, I’m done now.” It’s like, “OK, I want to see what life looks like when people are going off.” Teenagers are usually the ones who are going off, and I can get away with it. That’s good.

DEADLINE: What was it like to play alongside Xosha Roquemore as your mom? Keisha and her mom have such a complex dynamic in the show. Her mom wants her to have the best life possible, of course, but of course, that’s not what Keisha wants.

SIMONE: I love Xosha. We are really, really good friends in real life. We just naturally have this loving chemistry because we really love each other in real life. I also have a young-ish mom who is a single mother. I feel there were a lot of parallels for us to just fall into our characters so naturally, just as far as the dynamics go. I think it was very easy to be afraid of Xosha because she actually is a mom, and she knows how to give that Black mom look. As a Black daughter, I know how to respond to that as a teenager. 

DEADLINE: This is a teenage love story steeped in melodrama, but it’s ultimately endearing. I’ve heard people on the internet call it “swoon-worthy.” What do you think makes it swoon-worthy? 

SIMONE: I think what makes it swoon-worthy is the gestures that these teenagers pull from one another. It’s very vulnerable in a way that you don’t typically see teenagers be openly vulnerable. It’s so beautiful. It’s like the way characters look at each other. And I’m not just talking about Justin and Keisha. I’m talking about how Keisha looks at her best friend and how Justin’s parents look at each other. There’s all these things and these relationships that you’re like, “Aw.” 

DEADLINE: How did you and Michael work together to create chemistry? 

SIMONE: Funny enough, when I was auditioning for this role, I went ahead to the chemistry reads. I was excited to be going to LA to read with a [potential] Justin. So I was on the plane, and I’m looking for the window seat, because that’s what I normally like, but now I was in the aisle because this boy was sitting in the window seat. Then I get off the plane, and I’m like, wait, why is this boy also going to the same hotel as me? What’s happening? Then, after I’m waiting outside my hotel for my food, this boy walks up to me, and we’re talking about how we’re both here for a chemistry read for this show called Forever, and it’s Michael. 

DEADLINE: Wow. 

SIMONE: Yup, this whole time. We met on the way to the chemistry reads. We knew each other and we were really cool, but we didn’t read with each other on the first chemistry read. Then, the second chemistry read, we read with each other. It was beautiful because we had a little bit of past history, even though it was brief. We read together in our hotel room, so we were like, “I hope you get it.” Going into it, we did already start to have a little rapport. Regina did tell us, “Hey, your characters… they know each other, and they have chemistry, but they haven’t seen each other in years, so you guys can’t talk too much. Because I still want to keep your first meeting fresh.” 

DEADLINE: A lot of this storyline also revolves around the power of social media and its positive and negative impact. How do you keep yourself grounded as a young actor in the industry? 

SIMONE: It’s not too hard. I’m an actress in Hollywood, but I’m never chasing Hollywood. I love my friends and I let them tell me if I’m right or wrong. I listen. And I like alone time. People tend to think that I’m always very busy and on the run, but I have a freelance job. If I’m not working, I’m going to use that time to not work and really be on myself. 

DEADLINE: What would you like young people to take away from Forever? 

SIMONE: I would want them to take away … just have fun with love. Even though it could hurt you. Even though it might traumatize you. Even though it might give you more questions than answers, just do it anyway. Because the only thing on the other side of [the journey] is you.

[This interview has been edited for length and clarity]