The Moving Reason the Creator of Peacock’s Bel-Air Wrote a Children’s Book
Morgan Stevenson Cooper reflects on the end of the Peacock drama series, and his new children's book.
In 2019, filmmaker Morgan Stevenson Cooper released his short film, Bel-Air, which reimagined the 1990s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as a drama. The short went viral, and Will Smith, who starred on the comedy show, eventually saw it and supported turning it into a series.
By 2020, Peacock picked up Bel-Air for an initial two-season order and it premiered two years later on the streamer. The show's fourth and final season — now streaming in full on Peacock — follows the fictional Will Smith (Jabari Banks) in his senior year as he prepares for his future after high school.
Cooper, like Smith, is an executive producer on the drama series, and he directed the final two episodes of Season 4. Cooper is now spreading his creative wings, most recently writing and releasing his first children's book, I Can Make a Movie!, illustrated by Geneva Bowers.
The sweet inspiration for Morgan Stevenson Cooper's children's book
Cooper shared that he wanted to write the book, about a little girl who dreams of becoming a director, to honor his father.
"When I was younger, he self-published a children's book," Cooper told Peacock Blog. "My dad grew up in the Jim Crow-era, so there were no pathways for him to express a lot of his creativity. I was 10 or maybe younger when my dad held up his children's book. He found an illustrator. He published it himself, and it was just a dream that he had. Early on, I said, 'One day I want to carry that baton forward,' and so this is also in honor of my dad and my love and respect for him."
Morgan Stevenson Cooper hopes his book will motivate kids
Like Norah Rose, the girl at the center of Cooper's new children's book, he hails from Kansas City, Missouri. And also like Norah, there once was a time when he wasn't sure how to get his start in the movie business.
"I was wanting to inspire kids and provide a source of inspiration and creativity that teaches kids confidence and empowerment," Cooper added of what motivated him to write the book. "There's so many things in that book that I think are important to the development of young people in terms of of decision-making. Filmmaking is an exercise in decision-making... and collaboration and resourcefulness.
"All of that is a part of the job of filmmaking," Cooper continued. "... Not that the book is to convince every kid to become a filmmaker — but the book is to convince every kid that they can be a filmmaker."
The director and author said he hopes any child that reads the book will think to themselves, "If I know I can do this thing, I can do that and that, what else could I do now that I know I'm able to make a movie? And that's really the message of it."
As for his primary job as a producer and director, Cooper said it's been an incredible run watching audiences embrace Bel-Air.
"One of my favorite compliments that I've gotten on Bel-Air is from people saying, 'It's something that I can watch with my family,' or 'I can watch with my kids,'" Cooper told Peacock Blog. "There's stories about young people but there's also adult stories. You don't see that type of intergenerational creativity often, especially done in a way that's this fly, connected..."
"That was always the vision with it," Cooper continued, "and I can confidently say, I feel it was a success creatively in that way. I'm very proud of that."
Cooper also gave a shout-out to the cast of Peacock's Bel-Air, which includes Jabari Banks (Will), Adrian Holmes (Phillip Banks), Cassandra Freeman (Vivian Banks), Olly Sholotan (Carlton Banks), Coco Jones (Hilary Banks), Akira Akbar (Ashley Banks), Jimmy Akingbola (Geoffrey), Jordan L. Jones (Jazz), and Simone Joy Jones (Lisa).
"I'm proud of this cast for stepping into these roles with so much love and such a high regard for the legacy cast and the legacy characters," Cooper said. "They had enough courage and enough trust in this idea to bring what they had to uniquely bring to each role. If you're too caught on, 'What did a different actor do 30 years ago?' — that creates a barrier between the idea and the execution."
Cooper recalled "giving actors' authorship over their roles" on Bel-Air early on.
"One of the things I suppose I'm most proud of, is sometimes the best piece of direction is the simplest piece of direction," he said. "I remember the first day and prepping with the actors. Coco, I remember she had a ton of questions, like, 'Am I supposed to be like this?' or, 'Am I supposed to talk like this?' I looked at her, I said, 'Coco, be yourself.'
"I said, 'Trust the material and be yourself. Lean into it and listen, that's all I want you to do,'" Cooper remembered.
Six years after his short film went viral, and after a successful four-season run of the Peacock series, Cooper looks back on the moment that sparked it all.
"I remember when I had the idea originally, and it was just me in my car... sitting with this huge idea," Cooper said. "For it to have grown to what it's grown to, I just sit there and I say, 'See, when you're obedient and you listen to what your heart is telling you to do, and you move in faith, and you move from a place of curiosity and wanting to challenge yourself to grow as an artist, good things happen.'"
All eight episodes of the fourth and final season of Bel-Air are now streaming on Peacock.
