Power Book II Ghost: Shane Johnson Reveals He Landed Cooper Saxe Role After Being At Unemployment Office

It has been eight years since Shane Johnson, also known as Cooper Saxe on the hit television show Power on Starz. A role that Johnson landed after leaving the unemployment line.
Johnson was on Instagram Live with the creator of the Power Universe Courtney Kemp as she was doing her weekly recap of last week’s episode of Power Book II Ghost Season 2 Episode 207.
During the Live, Johnson was asked how Power has changed his life.
“Undeniably, the Power Universe has been the single biggest blessing of my career for sure, and you handed me that. So, I am internally grateful to you, obviously. It’s changed my life significantly. I have told this story a few times; it’s maybe an embarrassing story, but it’s inspiring, and I’ll tell it quickly. I was straight up at the unemployment line in my beat-up Ford Taurus in the unemployment office. Having to listen to this is how you fill out your paperwork,” said Johnson.
“I got in my car, changed into my suit for Saxe, and drove to the audition all in that day. It clearly, in that respect, changed my life. In this business, there are a lot of ups and downs. I’ve had incredible projects that I have been a part of. I had things where I thought maybe ten times in my career this is the thing. You just wait until they get a load of this, and you never know until it’s happening, and this is the thing you know? This is the thing for me that has put me on the map. It’s helped me pay a few bills and helped my kids and family. So, it has been incredible.”
If you are not familiar with the Cooper Saxe character, in the first six seasons of the original Power, he was an assistant U.S. Attorney and FBI agent. Once the series ended, he became U.S. Attorney in the first season of Power Book II Ghost but would end up losing his case to Tasha St. Patrick and later took a position as Davis Maclean number two as a criminal defense lawyer.
This season, the objective for Maclean and Saxe, is to make sure the Tariq St. Patrick does not go to jail for the murders of his professor Jabari Reynolds, which he did do, and Officer Danilo Ramirez, who was killed my Cane Tejada.
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