Meagan Good is on fire! Yes, the girl who first caught everyone’s eye in “Eve’s Bayou” is all grown up, and with her new role starring opposite Tyrese in “Waist Deep” steps away from ingénue parts into a role of a full bodied woman.
Having earned her stripes in recent years with films like: “Biker Boyz,” D.E.B.S.,” “The Cookout,” and “Roll Bounce,” Meagan has emerged as a solid performer with the looks and talent to make it all the way. She recently talked to the Robertson Treatment about her current role and upcoming projects.
Robertson Treatment: what was it like to work with game and larenz tate?
meagan goode: It was already like a family unit. i have known larenz for years. we did “biker boys” together. also game i have Known him for years. three years ago tyrese and i were talking about how we wanted to do a movie together and it was just funny last year vondie came to me and asked me who i thought would perfect for this part and i was like probably tyrese and he was like yeah. then eight months later he comes back to me and is like ‘i am sitting down with tyrese and you know he’s attached to the movie now.’ and i said really and he said yeah and that he asked him who do you think would be good for lead and guess who he said? i said really [me?] it was just so random as we had been batting for each other and didn’t really know it.
RT: what was it like on set? did it feel like a boys club there?
mg: it was great. a huge family atmosphere. larenz helped me a lot, because he’s such a seasoned actor and he’s so on point and he gets it and for me this being my first leading lady role – i have been acting for almost 20 years, but this being like in every scene, i was nervous and he was just kinda there to remind me of certain things. it just helped a lot that was there. As for it being a “guys set”, well i am one of the boys, i am pretty nerdy and pretty guyish to be honest.
RT: the bank scene – where did you get the hood from?
mg: it’s just….when i get mad mad sometimes i just burst out. i don’t know where i got it. i grew up in valencia. sometime it just comes out, but this time i was able to just have fun and just go with whatever. i had a blast doing the bank robbery scene.
RT: what was like working with vondie, from him acting with you in eve’s bayou and now directing you in this?
mg: it was alright and i was looking forward to it actually. when i worked with vondie in eve’s bayou i always used to say that i ‘d like to work with him again – him and kasi are an incredible team and he actually helped me out a lot as that was my third movie role as a child. he knows how to communicate and he makes sure you are comfortable and you’re happy with goes in the camera.
RT: you just finished shooting steppin in Atlanta. what was it like shooting out there?
mg: majority of it was a fraternity and sorority which is so rare down there. a lot of it wasn’t so much dancing and it was a totally different scene because i didn’t go to college myself so i just got to see a whole sub culture. it was a huge learning experience. i had a blast onset. all of us like neyo, chris brown…..it was a great cast and fun people. i had a blast. we shot in Morehouse and three different colleges. [with steppin] people were so in to. the rhythm is not like dancing, dancing. it’s really hard. they were trying to teach me how to step and it was so embarrassing.
RT: is steppin the next movie we are going to see you in?
mg: yes. i have something else in the works. it’s called ‘fast girl’ and it’s loosely based on a true story about a girl track team in college and loosely based on a coach who was a big track runner that kinda lost his career and its kinda like his comeback.
Best Bets – Home Entertainment
With the release of his second theatrical release “Madea’s Family Reunion,” Tyler Perry once again hits the right marks. Although this film will certainly not gain much critical praise from a critical standpoint, it does deliver solid entertainment for video markets. Populated by a beautiful cast featuring Blair Underwood, Boris Kodjoe, Linda Arrindell Anderson, Rochelle Aytes, Cicely Tyson, May Angelou and of course Mr. Perry as Madea, the film features an engaging story line about love gone right and gone wrong, capped off with all sorts of other family drama. The Tyler Perry’s franchise continues to deliver laughs and undoubtedly deliver solid number at video stores across the country. Grade B
Tinseltown Diaries
During the summer LA is very much like a party in full swing. Kicking off the week, my good friend, journalist/writer P. Frank Williams, celebrated his B-Day with a low-key celebration at the swank Standard Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Soon after settling in to his suite – drink in hand and ready for a good time-- I hit the jack pot meeting three great young ladies, who were ready for a good time. Shortly after serenading Frank I left his shindig enroute home to get ready for the week that lay ahead. On Monday I meet with talented writer/producer, Tiyoka McMillan at one of my favorite lunch spots in LA, Kate Mattaleni’s. McMillan, whose first film “Flip the Script” hits the DVD shelves on August 22nd. Later that evening I ventured out to LA’s infamous Spider Club, located at Club Avalon, where R.B. Booner was celebrating the launch of his beauty magazine called Elite Style, to a SRO crowd the included King of Queens star Victor Williams, James Lesure (Vegas), Danielle Nicolet (Second Time Around) and Jazsmin Lewis (“Barber Shop 1 &2”) were witnessed tearing up the dance floor. On Tuesday, I rushed to the 20th Century Fox lot where I had been invited to attend an advance screening of the upcoming film “The Devil Wears Parada” starring Anne Hathaway and the great Meryl Streep. Set in the center of New York’s turbulent and high glossed fashion community, the film is a witty, well structured gem! Definitely go and see it when it opens on June 30th .
That evening I had a myself a sort of “family reunion” when I attended a reception at the California African American Museum for radio personality Tom Joyner, whose hugely successful morning show returns to LA after a six-year absence. I hadn’t even left the parking lot before being pleasantly surprised by running into businessman Steve Bradford, who is currently running for office in Inglewood, CA. I still hadn’t made it to the party before I encountered Jeff Logan, one of Lt. Governor’s Cruz top aides. He was accompanied by Mitsy Wilson, Sr. VP of Diversity Development at Fox Entertainment, a division of the 20th Century Fox corporation. Finally reaching the actual venue, I was overwhelmed by the broad cross section of glitterati representing LA’s black business, financial, entertainment and philanthropic communities: Cathy Hughes, Dyanna Williams, Tosha Thomas, Monica Alexander, Stephanie Fredric, Gayle Pollard Terry and Lee Bailey, Dionne Perreneau, Crystal Wright Dwight Bibbs, Jesus Garber and Miller London. It was a blast!!!
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