After decades on the big screen, Meagan Good is making a name for herself behind the camera with her latest project, “If Not Now, When?”
Now in theaters, digitally, and on-demand, the film marks Goods co-directing debut alongside actress Tamara LaSeon Bass. In addition to directing the film, Good and Bass also star in the melodrama, which highlights a lifelong friendship between four black women suffering from heartbreak and crisis.
A leap of faith
Good, who plays a mother who struggles with opioid addiction and is subsequently forced into rehab by her friends BLACK COMPANY that she and Bass weren’t about to make the film. Rather, she says that she was led to the director’s seat by divine intervention after the original director stepped down while they waited for funding to aid in the making of the indie film.
“At first we didn’t want to stage it. We had a different director, ”said the star“ Think Like A Man ”. Instead of finding a replacement, Good and Bass considered “If not, when?” themselves.
“I prayed about it for two months and then I heard God and felt God three times to tell me to do it. And so I said, “Okay sir, I will meet with Tam who is my co-director and I will obediently tell her that we can run this together.”
Despite feeling moved by God to take on a direction, Good admits she was still not 100% satisfied with the decision and asked God for an “undeniable token” of confirmation.
“So I go to the meeting and say, ‘Hey, Tam, God said we’d do this. ‘And eight minutes later, the bank called and said the money had landed, eight minutes later, after waiting eight months,’ says the actress. “So I was like ‘fine sir’ and everything about it was like a change of faith and really a dream come true.”
Diversity in Hollywood
“If not now when?” comes as Hollywood continues to address the lack of representation in the industry and scrambles to tell stories that reflect the nuance of black femininity. In addition to addiction and sisterhood, the film deals with illness, health, infidelity, infertility, and parenting.
“I saw these kinds of films as a kid, like ‘Waiting to Exhale’ or like in the action space of ‘Set It Off’ or ‘The Women of Brewster Place’. These projects really shaped the way I saw the world and really let me see who I am and what I can be, “said the 39-year-old actress, who recently appeared in the Sony adventure fantasy film “Monster” starred Hunter in 2019. “Other acting credits include” Friday “,” Anchorman 2 “and Nickelodeon’s” Cousin Skeeter “.
“We have a lot of content, but when it comes to that kind of story [about Black women]Often it’s comedies, and they don’t always show us as complex as we do, ”added Good. “A lot of the feedback we got trying to make this movie was, ‘Well, I don’t know if anyone really wants to see drama with black women. “
Despite the naysayers, Good and Bass not only insisted on themselves, they also made a statement in Hollywood.
“It’s about breaking glass ceilings. It’s about inspiring each other and letting each other know that we’re worth it. If we just focus on that and focus our energies on God and do the work, we can really, really do anything. “
“If not now when?” hits theaters and is available digitally and on request on Friday, January 8th.
Check out Meagan Good’s full interview on The New Norm With Selena Hill below.
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