Meagan Good Recalls Not Getting Certain Acting Roles Because of Her Looks

Don’t hate her ‘cause she’s beautiful, but Meagan Good believes that her looks may have played a role in her acting career.

The 43-year-old was a guest on a recent episode of the Tea Time podcast with Raven-Symoné and her wife, Miranda Maday, when she was asked about “pretty privilege” in Hollywood and whether her image hindered her from being offered roles.

Around the 9 minute mark, Raven asked Meagan if she considers herself a sex symbol. "Sometimes I feel like a sex symbol, sometimes I feel like a complete nerd," she explained. From there, Miranda complimented the actress on her looks, calling her beautiful before she asked, "What is your experience being as pretty as you are in this world?"

“I can't tell you how many times I've walked into something and I had an audition and they were like, ‘She was great, but we just don't realistically believe her as this character because she's, you know, a pretty girl,’” Good said in response to Raven who asked if she thinks pretty privilege hindered her from getting certain roles.

Good added that she didn’t understand “what that character should look like” or what she will look like as said character. She also mentioned that one piece of feedback she’s heard was that casting already hired a lead guy and didn’t “buy that he could get her.”

“I'm like, ‘That's doing the character a disservice because that means you're saying that she's just only about the look,’” Good continued.

“I've always known that I want to be an actress and I want to have incredible opportunities. I want to make things that are just good for my quality of life that hopefully inspire people and make people feel good. But I know more than that, I want to be a good person. I want to use that platform to put good things into the world. I want to be an advocate for women. I want to help younger women to not have to work as hard as we did, you know? The same that those that came before us have,” she said.

Although the Eve's Bayou actress said she enjoys some of the privileges that come with being famous, such as getting through airports quicker, she never aspired for fame and argues that it also comes with its disadvantages.

“I don't mind the perks but just as many perks come with it come, you know, the other things as well or the abuses or whatever it may be. But you know, no complaining. It's just I feel like it's all about what you want to put into the world because I think that we're all here to help each other at the end of the day,” Good said.

She added, “I want to be a superhero. I want to do artistic activism. I want to do Lucille Ball comedy. Will I throw myself over something, potentially hurt myself to make it funny and get it done?

Good isn’t the first actress to speak out about how being good looking has hurt their acting prospects. Charlize Theron shared similar sentiments during a 2016 interview with GQ.

"Jobs with real gravitas go to people that are physically right for them and that’s the end of the story,” Theron, now 49, told the magazine at the time. “How many roles are out there for the gorgeous, fucking, gown-wearing eight-foot model? When meaty roles come through, I’ve been in the room and pretty people get turned away first.”

In 2019, the New York Times reported on a study called “the femme fatale effect” that found that attractive businesswoman were considered “less trustworthy, less truthful, and more worthy of being fired” compared to other women.