Meagan Good On Directing & Acting In Movie 'If Not Now, When?': 'I Fell In Love With It Not Being All About Me'
(CBS Local)-- Meagan Good has been acting since she was a little kid growing up in Los Angeles and this week, she makes her feature directorial debut with the new movie "If Not Now, When?" Good is also an actor in the film about four women who have been friends since high school and are brought back together after one woman encounters a major crisis.
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Good has made a name for herself in movies like "Think Like A Man," "Friday," "Anchorman 2" and the TV show "Cousin Skeeter." The actor and director was thrilled to have the opportunity to direct a film and be in a movie where four Black women can explore the depth of their lives.
"We ran into a lot of opposition with people saying that no one wanted to see a Black female drama," said Good, in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "Our conversation was, first of all it's not even really about being Black, it's really about the experiences these characters are having. We had complete autonomy and complete freedom and we authentically made something we all deal with and all experience and it never really gets fully explored in film. We really get into the conversations of what happens when you can't have kids and your marriage doesn't survive because of that. Or what happens when you can have kids, you get pregnant and you're not even sure you want to be a mother. What happens when you give up your dreams and start a family, but you really feel like that's your purpose. It's these common themes that everyone experiences in life through the canvas we wanted to show it."
Good has known for years that she has wanted to produce and direct and she has a wealth of knowledge about the industry that began when she was just a little kid.
"I really just had to figure it out the fly, make mistakes and ultimately I did and produced a few films," said Good. "I thought I didn't know what I was doing at all and then 15 minutes later I realized I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like. I've been watching people direct my whole life and realized I knew a lot more than I thought I did. I instantly fell in love with it and fell in love with it not being about me."
While Good has had many big roles, one of her biggest was playing a woman named Maya in "Think Like A Man." That movie came at a time when the actor and director was going through exactly the same thing her character was.
"I was just happy to be there. I was excited to work with Will Packer again and I was excited about the ensemble and the cast," said Good. "I didn't expect it to be as big as it was, but I didn't not expect it to be. I just wanted to do go work and with the character Maya, I was living what she was experiencing. She had decided to not have sex for a period of time to get some clarity in her relationships. I had literally just decided to become celibate and was doing that for the same reasons and spiritual reasons. She met her guy in the film and I reconnected with my husband."
"If Not Now, When?" is available on digital and demand Friday, January 8.