Yale fans may have seen a familiar face during the television coverage of the first rounds of the NCAA Basketball Tournament last weekend. Yes, that was
Alex Copeland '19 making his patented spin move in a Powerade commercial that is airing during March Madness. The only twist is halfway through the move, Copeland suddenly dons a chef's outfit, "serving up an L" to his defender.
Copeland, who is pursuing an acting career in his native Los Angeles, saw the commercial for the first time on television on Sunday.
"It was two years to the day that I played in the NCAA Tournament, so it was really surreal," he said. "I guess I've come full circle. It was a really cool moment."
Copeland, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2019 Ivy League Tournament, paced the Bulldogs with 24 points in a near-upset of third-seeded LSU in the NCAA Tournament that year.
Following graduation, Copeland contemplated a professional basketball career – even earning a pre-draft workout with the Phoenix Suns – but decided to go in a different direction. He had done some acting in short student films while at Yale and decided that was the path he wanted to follow.
"I got the bug," he said. "I decided I wanted to pursue [acting]."
So, he has been taking classes in Southern California, seeking roles while like many aspiring actors working in a restaurant.
The Powerade commercial was his first big break. His basketball experience certainly helped, but it was a long process to land the job. He had three auditions where he read lines and also supplied quite a bit of video footage from his playing days at Yale. Ultimately, he was selected from a pool of more than 100 applicants.
The commercial, filmed in one day at a Los Angeles area high school, was directed by Dave Meyers, who is well known for his work on music videos and commercials. Meyers has won two Grammy awards for Best Music Video and four MTV awards for Videos of the Year. The musicians he has worked with include Drake, Janet Jackson and Ariana Grande.
Since the commercial aired over the weekend, Copeland has heard from a number of his former teammates congratulating him. There also have been messages from former Ivy League players who had been on the receiving end of Copeland's patented spin move.
"Ivy League basketball is an awesome community," said Copeland, a first team All-Ivy selection as a senior who scored 1,153 points in his career. "I have fond memories of battling against those guys."
Copeland hopes the success of the commercial will lead to more opportunities, whether it be in television, movies or theater.
"I use the same work ethic I had playing basketball and apply it to [acting]," he said. "I'm just trying to get better every day."
