'Waist Deep': opposites off-screen, sexy stars Meagan Good and Tyrese are perfect match in thriller

Jet, June 26, 2006 by Dana Slagle

Meagan Good and Tyrese are as different as fire and ice.

She's a good girl from the family friendly community of Valencia, CA, who describes herself as "corny," and he's a supercool Brother with bad-boy appeal from Watts, a rough area of Los Angeles.

But together, the two sexy stars are a perfect match to create steam and excitement on the big screen in their new movie Waist Deep, a modern-day, urban "Bonnie and Clyde" film.

In the movie, ex-convict O2 (played by Tyrese) demonstrates a father's love for his son after his child is kidnapped in a carjacking in South Central L.A. Coco, a street smart hustler (played by Meagan) is the only person who can help O2 get his son back.

JET caught up with each of the eye-catching celebrities to find out what they've been doing since filming the action-packed thriller, featuring supporting cast members Larenz Tate and The Game.

"I stay busy," Tyrese admits as he rests in a New Mexico hotel room dining the filming of another upcoming movie, Transformers.

"I'm always looking for what's new--I get bored easy."

From plans of creating clothing and fragrance lines to hopes of one day starting a family, it's evident that 26-year-old Tyrese, born Tyrese Gibson, has been up to a lot these days.

One venture that he's taken on involves music, his claim to fame. He's about to release two albums. One is a mix CD titled The Best of Both Hoodz Vol. 1, and the other is a double album composed of R&B and hip-hop. While the singer/actor/model thinks both projects are big, he says his double album, Alter Ego, scheduled for release in the fall, is "pretty special" because he's going to unleash another one of his many talents.

"The world's going to hear me rap for the first time," exclaims Tyrese, known for his love ballads and smooth voice, which made him popular at 16 when he landed a gig singing in a Coca-Cola commercial. He later made three albums containing such hits as Sweet Lady and Just A Baby Boy. Despite the success, Tyrese, a.k.a. Black Ty, says he's been rapping longer than he's been singing, but his rap career took a back seat.

"I've never been the one to question the order of God's blessings, so the singing thing happened first," declares Tyrese, who can be heard on the Waist Deep soundtrack, along with other hot artists such as Ice Cube and Black Buddafly featuring Fabolous.

While Tyrese, who enjoys snacking on his favorite candy, Turtles, or catching some zzzzs when he's not working, has been busy with his passion for music, Meagan's been indulging in her love for the silver screen.

The actress, who calls herself a "movie buff," began her career starring in commercials when she was 4, and later starred in the popular Nickelodeon show "Cousin Skeeter," but her big break came when she landed a leading role in Eve's Bayou, for which she earned an NAACP Image Award and a Hollywood Reporter nomination. Since those days, she's worked on several projects, including the 2005 movie Roll Bounce with Bow Wow and several episodes of the TV show "Kevin Hill," starring Taye Diggs that aired 2004-05.

Meagan, who just finished working on Screen Gems' Steppin' (2007), hasn't slowed down since filming Waist Deep.

"I just produced my first project. It's called Miles From Home and it's kind of I going around the film festival circuit," explains Meagan, 24, who aspires to make producing, directing and writing permanent marks on her resume.

The independent film Miles From Home, which Meagan describes as a "spiritual movie," premiered at the Pan African Film & Arts Festival, the Washington, D.C., Independent Film Festival and the Atlanta Film Festival and won best feature, best actor, best actress (Meagan) and best director.

"It's really awesome. I'm really, really proud of it." Meagan expresses.

She's also proud that she landed the part in Waist Deep. In fact she says she was so happy when she heard the news that she cried. Though she was elated that she was chosen for the role as Coco, she reveals she had never before played a part like that.

"The character was very much a stretch for me because she's just so different. She grew up in foster homes. She had a couple different odd jobs that she didn't like," says Meagan, who unlike her character grew up with family, and has enjoyed hobbies like horseback riding and kickboxing. Despite the differences, Meagan felt Coco would be a good role for her to "sink her teeth into and find the core of her." She was able to do that by conducting research in order to prepare for the part.

"I hung out in the environment a lot, just to see how people went about things," Meagan explains.

Tyrese, on the other hand, didn't need any coaching to prepare for his role. He even communicated with Waist Deep's director and co-screenwriter Vondie Curtis Hall to make sure scenes were portrayed realistically.

"When you do a film about South Central L.A., you want to make sure that when the people of South Central L.A. see the film they won't question anything," explains Tyrese, who attributes his street smarts to having grown up in Watts.