Yet as we talk about her career trajectory over the past three decades, I realize overlooked isn’t quite the right word to describe what I’m projecting Good’s experience to be as an actress.

The second reason is that I’m interviewing her for what will be her first solo ESSENCE cover ever, and for a 41-year-old Black woman who’s been acting since the age of 10, the math, for me, isn’t quite mathing. One, it’s Megan Good- an actress whose roles based on 17 films alone have brought in more than $1 billion at the box office- and I’ve asked her to meet me at a random Japanese restaurant which Yelp says you only need two dollar-signs worth of money to afford because the music at the swanky bar where we’d originally planned to chat was too loud. Sitting across from Meagan Good in an Udon shop in West Hollywood on a Monday night, I feel a slight sense of embarrassment for a couple of reasons. By: Brande Victorian | Photography By: Tayo Kuku