For Black movie fans, Tyler Perry’s films are a controversial topic. But the actors who work with the director have nothing but gratitude and appreciation for the Atlanta-based mogul. The latest star to sing the praises of the Madea filmmaker is Meagan Good.
Good stars in Perry’s new Prime Video film, “Divorce in the Black.” While discussing the project on “Today With Hoda & Jenna,” the actress revealed that it was the first time she was paid her true value.
“He was like ‘You deserve this.’ I was already thinking in my head like, what I was going to ask, and I was like, ‘Oh, is this too much?’” she said. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to lose the job.’ ‘Cause I come from that generation when you’re working in the ’90s and 2000s when women ask for something you are perceived to be a certain kind of way or when you show up a certain way.
“When you’re assertive, you’re perceived to be a certain kind of way… But that’s what I love about Tyler, ’cause he was like, ‘I was already going to give that to you’… I started crying.”
Good isn’t the first leading lady to hail Perry for paying Black actresses their true worth. In 2019, Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson revealed that the filmmaker, who she’s worked with on multiple occasions, was the first person to actually give her what she was asking for.
“I was asking for half a million. I didn’t get paid that until I did my first Tyler Perry film. He was the first person that gave — that broke the standard that I was getting paid for films, and he gave me $500,000,” she said on Variety’s “Actors on Actors.”
As previously reported by The Root, Perry showed his love for the legendary Cicely Tyson by supporting her for the final 15 years of her life.
“This woman had done so many amazing things, but she wasn’t well compensated for it,” he said in 2022. “She made $6,000 for “Sounder,” you know? I wanted to make sure she knew that there were people who valued her.”
In 2024, when Henson expressed her frustration with the low pay for Black actresses, she received criticism for “complaining” and thinking she’s a bigger star than she is. However, she was backed up by Gabrielle Union, Keke Palmer and Robin Thede.
Good has been in the business for more than 30 years and has starred in projects including “Waist Deep,” “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” “Think Like a Man” and DC’s “Shazam!” films.