Meagan Good has been working in the entertainment industry for well over twenty years. She first burst onto the scene as the troubled and secretive tween, Cicely Batiste in Kasi Lemmons’ 1960’s era “Eve’s Bayou” alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Lynn Whitfield. Since then, Good has been on numerous television shows, and starred in a plethora of films including “Think Like A Man” and “Anchorman 2.” Good’s career has certainly been taken to new heights in the past few years. In 2013, she snagged a starring role on the NBC drama “Deception”. And currently, she leads the new FOX sci-fi drama “Minority Report” as police detective Lara Vega, showing audiences just how badass she can be as an actress. Good took time out of her extremely hectic schedule to chat with Shadow and Act about “Minority Report”, her latest film ("A Girl Like Grace"), and Viola Davis shouting her out at the recent Primetime Emmy Awards.
Aramide Tinubu: Hi Meagan. Thank you so much for speaking with me and with Shadow and Act. How are you doing?
Meagan Good: I’m great how are you?
AT: I’m wonderful thank you. It’s great to be speaking with you.
MG: It’s wonderful to be speaking with you as well.
AT: Thank you. I know you don’t have much time, so I’d love to jump right in and start chatting about “Minority Report” if that’s OK with you.
MG: Of course.
AT: Well to start off, who is detective Lara Vega? Why is she so different from all of the previous characters that you’ve played in your life? From watching the first two episodes, I can see that she a badass, but she also has a gentle side.
MG: You’ll really get to know her as the season goes on, and you’ll see that there is this vulnerability to her. She wanted to become apart of Pre-Crime, because if it had been in effect, her father might not have passed away. He was murdered on the job. So, she really wanted to follow in his footsteps, and she thought that being a part of Pre-Crime would be a game changer for her. However, by the time she got to the program, it was abolished. So that really is a part of what motivates her and drives her. There is also this sense of purpose. When she wakes up, she lives and she breathes partially because of her dad. She wants to save lives and stop people from going through the pain that she and her family have been put through. She also just wants to make the world a better place, one person at a time. She’s really driven by this purpose in wanting to do good, and be good. Lara wants to give back in some way, to get rid of some of that pain of losing her father.
AT: You can certainly sense her motivations in the actions that she takes. However, knowing the history behind the 2002 film “Minority Report” starring Tom Cruise, were you nervous at all about such a well-loved film being transformed for a television audience?
MG: Yes. You definitely know that a lot of people are going to have opinions; a lot of people are huge fans of the movie and you just want to do it justice. It’s already quite different when you have a woman in that kind of role. You have to figure out how to bring strength but also that vulnerability that a woman has in a certain kind of way while still making it feel strong. So, it’s definitely a challenge, one that I was game for and excited to have the opportunity to do. So I was a little bit nervous, but the other part of me knew that it was something that I’d literally prayed for. I’d waited on the role, and turned down other opportunities because I knew that it was coming. So when it got here, and it was everything that I really wanted, I had and have a confidence in that, because of how it all came together. I just knew that it was going to be what it was supposed to be.
AT: Yes, that’s such a blessing. I did read that you prayed about a role like this and it came to fruition for you within a year. That’s amazing.
MG: Thank you.
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Image: FOX