‘The worst has already happened, so now I have everything to gain': Meagan Good on love, loss, and empowering women in ‘Forever'
"You just have to open your heart and say, 'The worst has already happened, so now I have everything to gain.' Even if I get hurt again, it'll still be worth it — to live, to experience, to love," says Meagan Good, sharing one of the poignant takeaways she hopes viewers embrace from her Lifetime movie, Terry McMillan Presents: Forever.
In the film, Good portrays Carlie, a resilient police officer, cancer survivor, and single mother of two who finds herself opening up to a second chance at love when she meets Johnnie, played by Taye Diggs. Johnnie, a military veteran. He falls deeply in love with Carlie, helping her rediscover the possibilities of connection and healing.
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For Good, portraying Carlie was both meaningful and deeply personal. "My father was LAPD for 26 years," she shares. "I had recently gone through a divorce myself. I'm in a space now where I really want to be a mother. And then, ultimately, my uncle passed away from cancer."
Having recently experienced her own new chapter of love with her husband, Jonathan Majors, Good found herself drawn to Carlie's journey. "I wanted to discover it with her," she explains. "There are parts of her story that I understand so intricately. I wanted to bring it to life in a way that empowers women, makes them feel strong and hopeful, and inspires them to believe in love again. To believe in everything life has to offer in every season — and to embrace it unapologetically."
Reuniting with Diggs was also a perk. "I love Taye," Good says. "Taye and I did Kevin Hill years ago. I ended up playing the baby's mom on Kevin Hill when I was 24 years old. He's such a wonderful burst of light and energy — and an incredible actor. To be able to play with him and do all this heavy stuff — it's fun to do that with someone who has a very pure, optimistic, kind of childlike heart. At the same, Taye knows how to decompress and have a little fun."
After Carlie recovers from cancer and Johnnie forms a close bond with her daughters, the police officer is fatally shot during a convenience store robbery. "It was shocking!" Good exclaims about reading the script. "I burst out crying. I wasn't expecting that. I'm not even watching this, I'm reading it!"
"I just thought, life can often be like that," she continues. "We try to shy away from it because we don't want to think that way — we don't want to be afraid and we don't want to worry about it, but life does often happen in ways that we just don't anticipate. But what's important is, had she not said, 'You know what? I'm just going to try this love thing again,' she wouldn't have had someone to be by her side when she was going through her cancer diagnosis and ultimately beating it. She wouldn't have had the love, which turned out to be the greatest love in her entire life, before she passed."
SEE Taye Diggs on getting his groove back in 'Forever': 'This role was very therapeutic for me'
Good says her father, a veteran like Johnnie, had his own shocking reaction at the film's premiere. "My dad was in Vietnam," she shares. "After Vietnam he was a police officer. And we don't talk about Vietnam often, but I understood Johnnie's experience, because my dad, with PTSD and things that my mother would tell me — it deeply affected him. The one time I asked him about Vietnam he didn't say anything. He immediately choked up — and I'd never seen my dad cry before."
"So, understanding Johnnie's story, I don't know why it didn't occur to me to warn my dad that was going to happen. It surprised him and I felt really bad about that. But I just realized how important it is to tell the truth in a story and to be as honest as possible because there's healing involved in that."
Good, who also serves as a co-executive producer on Forever, says she has a clear vision for the kinds of films she wants to bring into the world. Collaborating with Terry McMillan, the acclaimed author of one of her all-time favorite movies, Waiting to Exhale, was an absolute thrill for her.
"It was super powerful to see as a child," she recalls. "I grew up in Santa Clarita, where we were one of one Black family until probably junior high. And seeing [Waiting to Exhale], I remember thinking, 'Oh, these are women that look like me who are in all these different phases of life, who have all these different personalities, and different versions of what strength is. They're navigating life experiences that are unique in general to women, but also to women of color.' That film was mind-blowing to me. I had never seen anything like it. It helped shape me as a woman and the way I look at the world."
Good also discusses her work on Prime Video's comedy series Harlem, her passion for directing, an upcoming collaboration with Tyler Perry, and her next film titled The Empty Nester. Watch the full video interview above.
Terry McMillan Presents: Forever is available on VOD and is expected to air again on Lifetime later this summer.
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