Meagan Monique Good (born August 8, 1981) is an American film and television actress and occasional film producer. Beginning her career at the age of four, Good has appeared in numerous commercials, television shows, feature films, and music videos.
Good was born in Panorama City, Los Angeles, the daughter of Tyra Doyle (who worked as Good's manager into her teens), and Leon Good, an LAPD police officer. According to Good, her maternal grandmother is "Jewish and African, so I guess that would be considered Creole. My mother’s father was Cherokee and something else. My dad’s mother’s Puerto Rican and African American, and his father was from Barbados."
Good was raised in Canyon Country (now known as Santa Clarita), California with her three siblings. She began her acting career around the age of four or five. In the early stages of her career, Good started out doing work as an extra on television shows such as Doogie Howser, M.D. and Amen. When she was thirteen, Good was cast in her first film in the 1995 hit Friday.
Good first began to gain recognition for her performance as troubled teen Cisely Baptiste in Kasi Lemmons' critically acclaimed 1997 film Eve's Bayou, which earned Good two award nominations, including her first NAACP Image Award nomination.
After taking on small film and television roles for the next few years, Good would begin to transition into more mature roles in the early 2000s. From 1999 to 2003, she appeared as Nina on Nickelodeon's hit show Cousin Skeeter. Good later took on small roles in the films 3 Strikes and House Party 4: Down to the Last Minute.
2003 proved to be a major year for Good, as she landed roles in the action-drama Biker Boyz and the romantic-comedy Deliver Us from Eva, which helped her transition from child to adult actress. Good also appeared as the character Vanessa for five episodes during the third season of My Wife and Kids, before being replaced by Brooklyn Sudano for undisclosed reasons.
In 2004 Good starred alongside Jordana Brewster, Sara Foster, and Jill Ritchie in the action film D.E.B.S., and for her performance received a Best Actress nomination at the 2005 Black Movie Awards.[citation needed] She also had small roles in The Cookout, Lance "Un" Rivera's directorial debut, and the teen dance film You Got Served.
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