Raven Goodwin Discusses The Emotional Process Behind Single Black Female

Congratulations on "Single Black Female." What an incredible movie! What was most appealing to you about working in the psychological thriller genre?

Because you rarely see girls like me in psychological thrillers, and girls like Amber [Riley], I don't think I have really seen it. That was a big thing for me. I remember when my brother Michael Chin, [when] he was previously at Lifetime, did "The Clark Sisters" with us. We had developed a really good relationship, and he called me with this and he was like, "I'm going to send you the script, it's a thriller. I think you and Amber, I think it'll be great."

I was like, "A thriller? I'm pretty much already game. Let me read it, but I'm in," because this is so on the opposite end of the spectrum as to what I'm used to doing. I started off in drama, and then I spent years doing TV shows and a lot of comedy and this and that. Doing a thriller was pretty high on my list. I still want to do a scary movie, but the thriller, the psychological thrillers, this is where it's at. I want to do more. I love this genre.

You mentioned your incredible co-star in "Single Black Female," Amber Riley, and you both were so intense and really masterfully played that dynamic in the film. From your perspective, what is it like to portray a character where you're constantly going through these waves of emotion through the entire movie?

It was fun. It was definitely from an authentic place. I lost my father in July, and we shot the movie in [September through October]. It was an emotional time for me. Anyway, I was getting married. I was planning a wedding. It was a lot of emotions going on — you're happy and you're sad at the same time. You're grieving, but so many great things are happening to you. I think that's where Monica was at [too]. She's in a transitional period in her career.

She can possibly get her dream job, but then she's dealing with grief and her dad not being there to see her accomplish that. I think with all of that, it came from an authentic place, really. Honestly, it was easy for me.

I hope that this experience was cathartic for you in a way.

Definitely cathartic, definitely therapeutic. All of those crying scenes, I was really crying. I would be like, "Get me out of this scene!" But yeah, it was a good time, definitely.

It's always nice when you can use your work as that sort of emotional release.

You have to use your life experiences in what we do, because we are living life through these characters. I think that's key in anything, honestly.