| Jasmine Cooper | |||||||||||
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| Shortland Street character | |||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Pearl McGlashan | ||||||||||
| Introduced by | Steven Zanoski | ||||||||||
| Duration | 2010 - present | ||||||||||
| First appearance | 19 August 2010 Episode 4564 |
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| Classification | Present; Regular | ||||||||||
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Jasmine Cooper is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. She has been portrayed by actress Pearl McGlashan[1] since August 2010 and is the youngest member of the Cooper family unit.
Jasmine entered the soap as part of a bullying storyline[2] where older girl, Ula Levi (Frankie Adams) began to bully Jasmine to try to fit in. Since then Jasmine has been involved in multiple storylines ranging from winning over Phoenix (Geordie Holibar), venting anger at her missing brother Evan (Tyler Read) and attacking the house of father Murray's (Matthew Chamberlain) mistress Vasa Levi (Teuila Blakely).
Jasmine has a differing perspective to life than the rest of her family, enjoying literature and sciences. Her dress sense reflects her personality, being described as "quirky".[3] Jasmine received critical acclaim in 2011 after the character was diagnosed with Long QT syndrome.
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It was announced in August 2010 that new character Wendy's family would be introduced throughout the remainder of the year.[4] Later in the month it was announced that musician Don McGlashan's daughter Pearl, would be joining the soap as Wendy's youngest daughter.[5]
Jasmine arrives to Shortland Street in August 2010 when Wendy (Jacqueline Nairn), Vasa (Teuila Blakely) and Maxwell (Robbie Magasiva) are called into Ferndale High school to be alerted of Maxwell and Vasa's daughter Ula (Frankie Adams) bullying Jasmine. Jasmine and Ula overcome their difficulties but continue being arch rivals. Jasmine develops a crush on the older boy, Phoenix Raynor (Geordie Holibar) and is disgusted when Ula finds out about her crush.
In 2011 Jasmine sends Phoenix a valentine, only for Ula to take the credit. Phoenix soon realizes his mistake and begins to date Jasmine. Jasmine grows jealous of Ula's apparent sexual relationship with Holden (Rudi Vodanovich) and tries to have sex with Phoenix. This only leads Phoenix to cheat on her with Suzy McRae (Maisey McSweeney). When Jasmine finds out she is devastated and breaks it off with Phoenix. The two eventually reconcile. Jasmine's rivalry with Ula flares up again when Ula vandalizes Ula's journalism project. Jasmine is devastated in August 2011 when Suzy arrives to Shortland Street, she spots Suzy kiss Phoenix and breaks it off with him yet again. The two get back together on Phoenix' birthday however Jasmine's heart stops and after narrowly escaping death, her, Wendy and Bella are all diagnosed with Long QT syndrome.
Jasmine alongside the Cooper family got a frosty reception upon entrance with the family winning the 2010 Throng Shortland Street Fan Award for "Worst Storyline".[6] However the character's storyline where she is diagnosed with Long QT syndrome received positive feedback with sufferers around New Zealand pleased that the condition received coverage.[7]