Acting can be a soul-baring exercise, with performers digging deep down into their honest emotional experiences to show off a piece of themselves as they build a character. In the best case scenario, they find an acting partner – and a compassionate director – who can help coax the strongest, most accurate performance that suits the material.
But can you imagine trying to act alongside an industry veteran who has achieved legendary status thanks to their previous credits? Or being as honest and upfront opposite an actor you have admired for years? This is the situation that Meagan Good found herself in when sharing scenes alongside Dennis Quaid for their new thriller The Intruder.
Good told CinemaBlend in an exclusive interview that she initially was intimidated. But in the end, she had no reason whatsoever to worry, as she explained how Quaid made her feel at ease, and part of the process. Meagan Good said:
One of the things I really loved about him is that he’s extremely collaborative. When you are talking to him, he’s listening to you, he’s looking you in the eye, he’s downloading your thoughts [and] processing them. We’re going back and forth and we’re figuring out how we’re going to make this gel together. That’s the best kind of experience to have with another actor. Yes, you are who you are, and you’ve been around for as long as you have, but you have mutual respect, as if we have been doing it for the same amount of time.
That’s the dream scenario. Even if, as it turns out, Dennis Quaid is playing a stalker who is ordered to make life very difficult for the younger couple who just bought his old home. That’s the premise behind The Intruder, which audiences got a look at in theaters last weekend.
However, Meagan Good also told us that she didn’t realize exactly how good her co-star was being in major scenes until she saw the finished product for herself. She went on to say to CinemaBlend:
On set, a lot of just the reacting… I honestly, a lot of things that he did, I didn’t see until I saw the movie. Because I’m just being Annie, and I’m responding and reacting to what I’m feeling. But when I saw the movie? I was like, ‘Yo, he is crazy!’ Like, it’s amazing, he’s so good in this.
Did you head out to see how good Dennis Quaid, Meagan Good and Michael Ealy are in The Intruder last weekend? Sure, a lot of people are still seeing Avengers: Endgame, and a handful of folks checked out Detective Pikachu. But this tense thriller pulled in $7.1 million in its second weekend, and has banked $21M to date. Not bad, for summer blockbuster counterprogramming.
The Intruder is still in theaters, so swing by and check it out while you still have time.
