Donovan Colan is back as Hunter Cooper in the second season of Your Friends & Neighbors, returning with the show’s original cast as the series moves into its next chapter. The 16-year-old plays Coop’s teenage son.
The casting matters now because viewers who followed the first season are getting the same family orbit back, with the show’s core players returning around Andrew “Coop” Cooper, the divorced former hedge fund manager at the center of the story. That makes Hunter’s return one of the clearest signs that the new season is keeping its original shape rather than starting over with a fresh lineup.
Colan has been acting since he was six, when he joined Summit Playhouse in South Orange, New Jersey, following his older sister into the local community theatre group. He later said he was drawn to acting because of his shyness. “That’s why I love acting,” he said, explaining that it lets him embody another person while still bringing his own personality into the role and building what he described as an alternate reality.
That instinct carried him far beyond community theatre. After his family moved to Nova Scotia, Canada, when he was eight, Colan kept working in short films and plays, and the part in Your Friends & Neighbors adds another screen credit to a resume that already includes film and stage work. He also went to the same art school as Timothée Chalamet and Jennifer Aniston.
The path has not been easy. In 2022, Colan starred as Jake in Spirit Halloween, a Jersey-based retail-chain movie, and he told NJ.com that he was terrified to take the lead role even as he went on to do it. He said he is glad he accepted it, a comment that fits the way he has described acting as a chance to step into someone else’s life instead of hiding inside his own.
What remains unanswered is how much of Hunter Cooper viewers will actually see in season two. The original cast is back, but no further casting changes or episode details have been confirmed, leaving Colan’s return as the clearest update for now as Your Friends & Neighbors continues its story about Coop stealing from his wealthy neighbors after getting fired.
Colan’s momentum is also extending beyond the series. In 2025, he won an award for The Dogs, another sign that the young actor is building a career that has moved from local stages in New Jersey to larger screen roles and back onto television.
