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Q&A: Meagan Good Dishes on Popular Roles and How Short Hair Boosted Her Career

The actress discusses 35 and Ticking, The Game, Think Like a Man and more.

Beautiful, talented and at the young age of 30, Meagan Good has made a career starring in some of our favorite movies (Jumping The Broom, Stomp the Yard) and TV shows (The Game, My Wife and Kids), over the years. But don’t look for her to join the upcoming season of Single Ladies. “They haven’t contacted me," Good recently told Global Grind. "And if they do, I’d only be coming on as reoccurring.”

 

BET.com talked to Good about 35 and Ticking (now on DVD), appearing in some of her most popular movie and TV roles, and how cutting her signature long hair led to better acting parts.

 

 

35 and Ticking has a great ensemble cast, which includes Nicole Ari Parker, Kevin Hart and Dondre Whitfield. What was it that made you want to be a part of it?

I read the script and I thought it was a fun comedy. I thought it was something that had a great cast, so I came on as a producer as well. Kevin Hart is pretty hilarious, he’s so much fun.  He made being on set a joy.

 

Some of the movie’s characters are suffering from that "marriage and babies" ticking clock are you hearing it in real life?

No. Here’s the thing: I did just turn thirty, so I’m definitely thinking about it more, but I’m not in a rush at all. If you find the right person and it happens, [that's great] but right now I’m married to God.

 

Let’s talk about another great ensemble you worked with, the cast of The Game. What was that experience like for you?

I worked with Pooch [Hall] and our director Salim Akil on Jumping the Broom so there were already friendships made there. And then I used to audition with Tia and Tamera [Mowery] when we were kids so our mothers know each other. And Wendy [Raquel Robinson], I used to go to her acting class when I was a kid. So the whole cast already knew each other, which was nice.  It was a good set, a lot of fun people, no divas, everybody was down-to-earth. The material was fun for me.  Hosea [Chanchez] was just a sweetheart and made it easy for me to jump into it and be a little bit crazy. He was like, “Do whatever you need to do."  I’m like, “You know I’m gonna have to slap you.”

 

What are your recollections of working on Eve’s Bayou?

I remember being at the table reading for Eve’s Bayou when I was 10 or 11 and just falling in love with that script after waiting for an opportunity to do some type of drama. Until this day, Kasi Lemmons is one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with. She knows what she wants.  Plus, she’s an actor herself so she communicates with actors in a way that only other actors can. I just wanted to do a good job and Samuel [L. Jackson] helped me out a lot. I was really trying to give it every thing I have. We weren’t just surrounded by amazing actors who could do the job, we had amazing actors who wanted to help with the journey.

 

You recently completed the film Think Like a Man, based on the bestselling book by Steve Harvey.  Can you tell us a bit about the character you play?

It should be a good movie; the script is really good and everyone brought their A-game. My character is Maya, she is like a lot of young women — looking for love and trying to find the right guy.  Some women don’t value themselves enough, they just don’t know how special and perfect God made them.  What I liked about the character Maya is that it shows you can save yourself and that you can make a man work for your affections, demand respect and demand to be treated like the queen that you are.

 

Do you think like a man and act like a lady in real life?

Yes, I do.

 

Lots of Black women are married to their "long hair style" look in Hollywood. Why did you cut your hair?

I did it because of the type of roles I wanted to play. I’d go into auditions and I’d get, “We would really like her for the lead but she’s kind of too sexy, she’s kind of too this or that so we’re gonna make her the best friend and we’re gonna go for the girl next door for the lead.” [They always picked] someone who they felt was more relatable and I’m thinking, “I’m relatable, women come in all shapes and sizes, looks, complexions, everything.”  I just felt like I kept getting the girlfriend and sexy girl roles or the chick who didn’t have a lot of substance to her character and I’d play her over and over again. So basically I chopped off my hair to say "Look, I’m taking away the sex kitten so you can look.  So it will produce the opportunity [for me] to play other types of characters.” And it has — I got a reoccurring role on Californication and a bunch of other projects I have coming up that I can’t discuss yet, so [cutting my hair] has been a blessing for me.

35 and Ticking is on DVD today. 

 

(Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

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