Taye Diggs continues his hot streak of romantic roles in Terry McMillan Presents: Forever. The actor stars as Johnnie, who returns home after military service and gets served divorce papers. As he begins to turn the page on a new chapter of his life, he falls for a local policeman named Carlie (Meagan Good).
The role is a full-circle moment for Diggs on multiple levels. Terry McMillan gave Diggs his big break in 1998’s How Stella Got Her Groove Back.
“Also, I couldn’t wait to work with Meagan Good again,” he told TV Insider in the video above. “We first met on a television program—people don’t know this—that I did for UPN years ago called Kevin Hill where I played a lawyer who adopts this young baby. She happened to play the mother of the baby. It was great to reunite with her and just to take part in this beautiful love story about two adults that have lived their lives but then are choosing to open themselves up to the possibility of love again.”
The 53-year-old noted that he feels “lucky” to “still be working and to still be able to work on quality pieces.” Terry McMillan Presents: Forever, in particular, was more than just a role to add to his resume.
“This piece was almost therapeutic just because I’m single,” the All American alum said. “I’m over 40. I have a kid. I’ve been married, divorced, and it’s an interesting situation and experience when you find yourself looking for the possibility of a partner and how courageous you need to be, especially these days with dating sites and Instagram and celebrities and actresses. It’s a lot to deal with, but we handled these topics, and it was fun kind of reliving some of what I’m doing in real life in this movie.”
In exploring Johnnie and Carlie’s love story, Diggs learned how “important it is to make yourself vulnerable. I’ve been single for a minute, and it’s not awful. I get to do things on my own time clock, and I don’t have anyone to answer to, but when you are brave enough to kind of let someone else enter that circle, you’ve got to think about that.”
However, Diggs admitted that playing Johnnie was “challenging” for him because it “was so similar to kind of what I’m going through in life. It kind of forced me to show some different colors that I haven’t been able to show in other pieces.”
Watch the full video interview above.
Terry McMillan Presents: Forever, Movie Premiere, August 24, 8/7c, Lifetime