Exclusive: Meagan Good Talks Monster Hunter & If Not Now, When?
Currently playing in select theaters nationwide from Sony Pictures is Paul W.S. Anderson’s video game adaptation of Monster Hunter, led by Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil franchise) and Tony Jaa.
The film also stars Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Drive), T.I. Harris (Ant-Man and The Wasp), Diego Boneta (Luis Miguel, Rock of Ages), Meagan Good (Code Black), and Josh Helman (X-Men: Days of Future Past).
Behind our world, there is another: a world of dangerous and powerful monsters that rule their domain with deadly ferocity. When an unexpected sandstorm transports Captain Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her unit (TI Harris, Meagan Good, Diego Boneta) to a new world, the soldiers are shocked to discover that this hostile and unknown environment is home to enormous and terrifying monsters immune to their firepower.
In their desperate battle for survival, the unit encounters the mysterious Hunter (Tony Jaa), whose unique skills allow him to stay one step ahead of the powerful creatures. As Artemis and Hunter slowly build trust, she discovers that he is part of a team led by the Admiral (Ron Perlman).
Facing a danger so great it could threaten to destroy their world, the brave warriors combine their unique abilities to band together for the ultimate showdown.
For Meagan Good, this is rare for her to be in a sci-fi film. Best known for her roles in Eve’s Bayou, Waist Deep, Biker Boyz, Jumping The Broom, Stomp The Yard, Think Like a Man, A Boy. A Girl. A Dream., Shazam! and more recently The Intruder, to work behind the green screen and filming overseas is something Good wanted to do, especially as she’s making a move to direct as well. Her film, If Not Now, When?, which she directed with Tamara Bass, hits On-Demand on Jan. 8. BlackFilmandTV.com caught up with Good as she spoke about both projects.
How did this project come about?
Meagan Good: I got a call basically from Paul, our lovely director and he was like, "Hey, we're doing this project. It's me and Milla and it's really, really cool. It's based on this video game. Would you like to be a part of it?" I'm like, "Yeah, that would be amazing." He said it would be filmed in South Africa, and I'm a big fan of Milla. I've followed her career since The Fifth Element. She's such a badass, superhero woman in the sci fi space and that's something that I really want to do. I was like, "Yeah, I'd love to do it." I came out to play with them and came to South Africa, and had one of the best, most epic experiences in my career. Living in tents seven hours out of Cape Town, in the middle of nowhere with spiders that look like the size of your hand, with big black Cobras being thrown all the way all around the desert. It was a really incredible experience.
Had you heard about the game?
Meagan Good: I hadn't heard about the game at the time. I did my due diligence, just seeing what an incredible fan base that it has. I just was excited. This is really, really cool. And so for me, it was really just like reading the script and seeing how true they were staying to the video games world. Creating a narrative and their own story within the world. I'm excited to be here.
How would you best describe your character?
Meagan Good: My character is Dash and she's a masterful mechanic. She's a part of this security operations. We’re an elite team of security operations soldiers. The cool thing about Dash is that she is the youngest person in the team, the newest person in the team, but she is a whiz. As they embark on this journey, where they're looking for another team that has disappeared and haven't been able to get in contact with, she's really the one that, when it's time to move and get out of harm's way, she sets the pace. And so for me, I just thought, this is an interesting character, and something that I haven't played before. I just wanted to learn all about, what was the training like, and we're working with our military advisor, and learning all these different details about how to shoot the guns, and what are the formations and how you protect yourselves and who brings up the rear and who does what and, even if everybody's standing out, everyone has a particular placement and the way they look. It was just very educational, and definitely a bit of a challenge when we got into actual filming, because there was just so much dirt. I tell you when I would wrap the scene, and I would come into the trailer at night, I would have so much dirt in my hair in my ears, up my nose, I would be talking and my gravel would be in my teeth, and was pretty intense. But it was amazing.
Will you continue to do more sci-fi?
Meagan Good: 100% I've always watched sci-fi. I’ve always loved it and I always haven't seen people who look like me in that space. To get an opportunity to be a part of this, I just jumped at just coming to play with them. I would definitely love to do more sci-fi and more action in general.
What did you learn from Paul as a director that you can take on as you continue to evolve as a director?
Meagan Good: I just directed my first film before I went out there, and it comes out on January 8. That was a very slice of life and really about the characters and the complexities of just us as human beings. With Paul, watching him direct action, it's a totally different beast and the vision that you have to have in our world with Monster Hunter, we have these green screens and you don't actually see the monsters until after the film is completed.
He created this world all in his head, as we're shooting it and explaining to us what he sees and where he sees it, and how the monster is moving and what his tails doing and what his teeth look like; and then just the sequences of just the actual physical action itself, it's just a totally different monster. He is really a genius, and he really just has beautiful vision and and he has this excitement about it. He really loves it, and just to be able to watch him direct, something completely different it was, I was really in awe and really just paying attention to everything.
Seeing him and Milla work together. I came home and told DeVin (Franklin), that's what I want. He's directing, she's starring and they're in South Africa with their two little girls. That is exactly what I want, us producing together, me starring or directing. When we have our kids and this little family, creating things that we're both excited to create together. It was really beautiful, magical to watch.
Now that it has gone through the festival circuit, how excited are you that your film with Tamara LaSeon Bass, If Not Now, When? is coming out for a wider audience?
Meagan Good: It's exciting. It's so exciting. This is just something you set out to do and it seems intangible, and it seems unrealistic, but you totally believe in it. You just keep doing the work and like plugging away. To see it come full circle and to sell it. All of it is a huge feat and to be two Black women to get to make the movie that we want to make without anybody telling us what we have to do or how we have to do it and to have complete autonomy and freedom in our vision, and then to be able to act in it and to produce it and Tamara to write it. Everything about it is just something that doesn't really happen. I'm super proud of the project and super proud of the message of the movie, but also super proud of the message of the of the real life situation of us being able to accomplish this.
You also have a project with Tracy Oliver coming up. Is there a date set?
Meagan Good: So we got to episode three and then COVID happen. So we go back, mid to end January to resume filming to finish up the season. And I'm so excited about the show. When I tell you I'm having so much fun with these ladies then with Tracy and Amy Poehler and Pharrell Williams and all the people who were a part of it, It's just a dream project for me. I just said a few years ago, I really want to focus my energy on action. I love thrillers, love sci fi. I also want to focus my energy on comedy but I want to be able to do like a little bit of like a Lucille Ball like physical comedy, things that people really haven't gotten a chance to see me do before and with the show I get the drama, the comedy, the physicality, the honesty, and the relatability. I'm working with these women, who I really love and adore his sisters. Two of them I only met when we got to New York in essence.