Meagan Good has lived most of her life in the public eye. The 42-year-old actress first came to fame in the ‘90s as a child star in the film “Eve’s Bayou.” Good went through her teens, 20s, and 30s on Hollywood’s main stage, including her emergence as an industry sex symbol, her 2012 marriage to preacher-producer DeVon Franklin, and her superhero turn as Darla Dudley in the “Shazam!” film series.
Good also went through her 2022 divorce from Franklin in the spotlight. It’s an experience that helped shape her newest role as Ava, a woman who finds love and life after her husband files for divorce, in Tyler Perry’s upcoming film “Divorce in the Black.”
Good tells theGrio in a recent interview that the movie is close to her heart in part because of her own life-changing separation.
“I think when people go through divorce, being optimistic and hopeful and understanding that if God has allowed it, then God has something better for both of you,” Good said at Prime Video’s Culture Rated Summer Kickoff at the 2024 Essence Festival in New Orleans. “I think everything in life to some degree, I believe, is about perception and attitude. We can’t control what anybody else does, but we can control how we respond to it.”
She continued, “Part of why the movie was so close to my heart, and part of why Ava’s so close to my heart, is because she goes through that journey. Even though life seemed like it was going to be one way, now it’s going to go a different way. For her to be optimistic, hopeful, and excited about what’s next in her life — I think that it’s an important lesson.”
In the film, Ava finds an escape from her pending divorce from husband Dallas on her parent’s farm in rural Georgia where she discovers peace and serenity. Good has her own escape when life gets tough — her home. The actress said that she feels a sense of calm in the home that took her years to find.
“I had been looking for a house for years and years and years and years. When I finally found the house that I’m in now, I really was like, ‘I don’t want to live in the mountains. It’s just so pretentious.’ But actually, as I was going through my divorce, I was staying up in the hills in an Airbnb and just going through my process,” Good explained.
“What I realized is that it reminded me of the house I grew up in when I was a kid; being in the mountains, the nature, the animals and everything. And so, the house that I’m in now very much reminds me of the house that I grew up in. I feel so much serenity when I’m at home. For someone who is very, very busy and likes to run and do things, I love being at home, sitting in my living room and having peace. Just looking at the view and thanking God.”
Good isn’t the only star in “Divorce in the Black” that has gone through a recent separation. Cory Hardrict, who plays Ava’s estranged husband, and actress Tia Mowry divorced in 2023 after 15 years of marriage. The 44-year-old actor told theGrio that he put a lot of “raw emotion” into his film performance.
“I’m a very emotional, passionate actor. I really go there, as you can see, watching the film,” Hardrict shared. “I read the script, [and] I was like, ‘Wow, this is a character I haven’t played before.’ Regardless of my personal life, I would have done the movie. I feel like a new artist right now. I just put 30 years of experience — all my emotion and passion I told you about [in the movie]. I put it all into this film — life, the triumphs, the tragedies, everything, the love — [and] left it in the camera.”
Ultimately, both Good and Hardrict want moviegoers to take away a powerful lesson from the film about acceptance, positivity, and moving forward.
“I hope that anybody who has experienced [divorce] or walked into that — even if it’s not divorce, just whatever it is in life — that they change the way that they think about it,” Good concludes. “It’s not necessarily, ‘this is unfair.’ [Instead] it’s like, ‘okay, I’m glad I got to do this for this amount of time.’ This was a blessing — I learned, I gave, I took — now, Lord, what’s next.”
“Divorce in the Black” will be available to stream on Prime Video on Thursday, July 11.