Early life

Good was born on August 8, 1981, in Panorama City, Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Tyra Wardlow-Doyle, worked as Good's manager into her teens, and her father, Leondis "Leon" Good, is an LAPD police officer. Good has said of her ancestry that 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 black, and his father was from Barbados." Good was raised with her three siblings in Canyon Country (now known as Santa Clarita), California. She began her acting career around the age of four.

In the early stages of her career, Good worked as an extra on television shows such as Doogie Howser, M.D. and Amen. When she was 13, she was cast in her first film, the 1995 comedy Friday. She first gained critical recognition for her performance as the troubled teen Cisely Batiste in Kasi Lemmons' 1997 film Eve's Bayou; she received two award nominations, including her first NAACP Image Award nomination. According to Good, she grew up "super nerdy, super skinny, buckteeth, big ole afro and yet I had a sense of confidence about myself, like, 'they just don't get it yet'". She was a fan of Justin Timberlake and Usher in her early teens. Good did not have any role models until early adulthood, when she began admiring actress Charlize Theron.

Career as an adult

After taking on small film and television roles for the next few years, Good began to transition into more mature roles in the early 2000s. Good believes she was able to move into adult roles due to playing characters several years younger than her. From 1998 to 2001, 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.

In 2003, a major year for Good, 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. She 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 unknown reasons. In 2004, Good starred alongside Jordana Brewster, Sara Foster, and Jill Ritchie in the action film D.E.B.S., and received a Best Actress nomination at the 2005 Black Movie Awards. She also had small roles in The Cookout, Lance "Un" Rivera's directorial debut, and the teen dance film You Got Served.

In 2005, Good co-starred in the horror film Venom, as well as the well-received neo noir Brick. She played opposite rapper/actor Bow Wow in Malcolm D. Lee's Roll Bounce. In 2006, Good played the role of Coco, which she felt was her first true lead actress role, in the urban action-drama Waist Deep. Good also voiced a character for the video game Scarface: The World Is Yours that same year. The following year, Good landed a role in the dance movie Stomp the Yard, starring with Ne-Yo and childhood friend Columbus Short. In 2008, Good appeared in the horror film One Missed Call and the Mike Myers comedy The Love Guru, and in the latter half of the year could be seen in Saw V. Good also starred in 2009's The Unborn with Gary Oldman and Odette Yustman.

She was part of the ensemble cast in 2012's Think Like a Man, a movie based on Steve Harvey's 2009 book Act like a Lady, Think like a Man. In 2013, Good starred in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Good returned to television from January to March 2013, starring in Deception. Good was contacted by her agents about the series while leaving a hair salon. She sat in her car "and cried for 30-minutes like a nerd, by myself.” In 2014, Good reprised her role for the Think Like a Man sequel. Good stated she "had a really good time" while filming the sequel after initially being nervous "because there's so much energy that only Vegas can give." Filming Think Like a Man Too was Good's first time in Las Vegas shortly before she got married.

Good has also appeared in many music videos, by artists such as 50 Cent, (21 Questions), Imajin, Isyss (of which Good's sister La'Myia Good is a member), Lil' Johnny, Memphis Bleek, Tyrese, and Will Smith.

She has started her own production company, Freedom Bridge Entertainment, with Marlon Olivera and fellow actors Tamara Bass and Ty Hodges.

Good wore a royal blue dress designed by Michael Costello to the June 30, 2013 BET Awards ceremony. The dress, which featured a plunging neckline down to her midriff and a front slit that rose to midthigh, was described as "raunchy." It was sometimes compared to the Green Versace dress worn by Jennifer Lopez to the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000. Fashion & Style editors selected Good as "worst dressed" at the ceremony.

The dress was controversial also because Good was presenting the BET Award for Best Gospel Artist. According to Christine Thomasos of The Christian Post, Good has a history of defending her stylistic choices of presenting herself as a "sexy Christian". She had said earlier that year,

"there is a classy way to do everything and there is nothing wrong with being sexy or having sex appeal and I think that I am definitely going to be someone who is boldly going to go out to the masses and be someone who say, 'Look! Women its okay'..."

Good responded on Instagram, expressing sadness that judgment had been passed on her, her character and her husband over what she wore to the ceremony. She said she picked the dress because she liked it and tried to express her individuality in her dress.

Personal life

Although she was not raised in the church, Good is a Christian, considers herself a very spiritual person and has stated in numerous interviews that she would not play roles that she feels might "disappoint God". She explained in an interview that Jesus tops her hero list and the last book she read was the Bible.

Good at age 22 chose to focus on her career rather than dating, as she explained in a 2004 interview. In 2011, Good began dating DeVon Franklin, an executive for Columbia Pictures and Seventh-day Adventist preacher. They became engaged in early April 2012, and were married on June 16, 2012, at Triunfo Creek Winery in Malibu, California. They have stated that they remained chaste prior to their marriage. They live together in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Friday	Kid #2
1995	Make a Wish, Molly	Jenny
1997	Eve's Bayou	Cisely Batiste
1999	Secret Life of Girls, TheThe Secret Life of Girls	Kay
2000	3 Strikes	Buela Douglas
2001	House Party 4: Down to the Last Minute	Tina	Video
2003	Biker Boyz	Tina
2003	Deliver Us from Eva	Jacqui Dandridge
2004	Ride or Die	Fake Venus	Video
2004	D.E.B.S.	Max Brewer
2004	You Got Served	Beautifull
2004	Cookout, TheThe Cookout	Brittany
2005	Brick	Kara
2005	Venom	Cece
2005	Roll Bounce	Naomi Phillips
2006	Miles from Home	Natasha Freeman
2006	Waist Deep	Coco
2007	Stomp the Yard	April Palmer
2008	One Missed Call	Shelley Baum
2008	Love Guru, TheThe Love Guru	Prudence Roanoke
2008	Saw V	Luba Gibbs
2009	Unborn, TheThe Unborn	Romy
2009	Good Hair	Herself
2011	35 and Ticking	Falinda
2011	Jumping the Broom	Blythe
2011	Video Girl	Lorie Walker
2012	LUV	Beverly
2012	Dysfunctional Friends	Ms. Stevens
2012	Think Like a Man	Mya
2012	Defeat the Label	Herself	Short film
2012	Obama Effect, TheThe Obama Effect	Tamika Jones
2012	Dick Little	Megan
2013	Don Jon	Hollywood Actress #2
2013	Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues	Linda Jackson
2014	Think Like a Man Too	Mya
2015	A Girl Like Grace	Share
2016	The Angry Birds Movie	Dahila	Voice
2017	Deuces	Janet Foster	In post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Gabriel's Fire	Young Girl	Episode: "Birds Gotta Fly"
1994	On Our Own	Traycee	Episode: "Swiss Family Jerricos"
1996	ABC Afterschool Special	Janie	Episode: "Me and My Hormones"
1997	Just One of the Girls	Starkeesha	TV film
1997	Pacific Blue	Shalona James	Episode: "Blood for Blood"
1997	Touched by an Angel	Nikki	Episode: "The Pact"
1997	Gregory Hines Show, TheThe Gregory Hines Show	Pauley	Episode: "Three's Not Company"
1997	Parent 'Hood, TheThe Parent 'Hood	Ariana	Episode: "No Soul on Ice"
1998	Parent 'Hood, TheThe Parent 'Hood	Ariana	Episode: "Flaked Out"
1998	Nothing Sacred	Carissa	Episode: "Signs and Words"
1998-2001	Cousin Skeeter	Nina Jones	Main role (52 episodes)
2000	Moesha	Nicole	Episode: "He Doth Protest Too Much"
2000	Steve Harvey Show, TheThe Steve Harvey Show	Alicia	Episode: "Don't Stand Too Close to Me"
2001	Division, TheThe Division	Kara Taylor	Episode: "The Parent Trap"
2001	Famous Jett Jackson, TheThe Famous Jett Jackson	Tara Essex	Episodes: "Awakenings 1 & 2"
2001-2002	Raising Dad	Katie	7 episodes
2002	Jersey, TheThe Jersey	Tamika	Episode: "The Playbook"
2003	My Wife and Kids	Vanessa Scott	5 episodes
2005	Kevin Hill	Melanie West	4 episodes
2006	Scarface: The World Is Yours	Femme Fatale	Video game (voice)
2007	House	Amy	Episode: "Words and Deeds"
2007	All of Us	Katie	Episodes: "Sins of the Father", "She Blinded Me with Science"
2009	Cold Case	Beatrice Sloan (1970)	Episode: "Soul"
2011	Game, TheThe Game	Parker Keith	Episodes: "It Was All Good Just a Week Ago", "Never Surrender"
2012	Californication	Kali	7 episodes
2012	Harry's Law	Cecilia	Episode: "And the Band Played On"
2013	Deception	Joanna Locasto	Main role (11 episodes)
2014	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Paula Bryant	Episode: "Spousal Privilege"
2015	Mr. Robinson	Victoria Wavers	4 episodes
2015	Minority Report	Detective Lara Vega	Main role (10 episodes)
2016	Code Black	Dr. Grace Adams	3 episodes

Award nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work
1998	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress	Eve's Bayou
1998	YoungStar Awards	Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Drama Film	Eve's Bayou
2006	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Breakout (Female)	Waist Deep
2007		Choice Movie Actress: Drama	Stomp the Yard
2006	Black Reel Awards	Best Ensemble	Roll Bounce (Shared with cast)
2007	MTV Movie Awards	Best Kiss	Stomp the Yard (Shared with Columbus Short)
2008	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	Stomp the Yard
2012	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress Romance	Think Like a Man

[ Source: Wikipedia ]