money Meagan Good was 'not ready' to see her former Cousin Skeeter costar strip in Harlem
While the new Prime Video comedy Harlem presents plenty of love interests for its four leading ladies, there is one suitor that star Meagan Good had to look away from — her former Cousin Skeeter costar, Robert Ri'chard.
Good stars as ambitious anthropology professor Camille on the new series, while Ri'chard plays the affable male stripper Shawn (stage name: Oscar De La D— You Down). In one scene, the actor bares it all onstage, a moment Good admits she wasn't prepared for.
Amazon Robert Ri'chard plats Shawn on Prime Video series 'Harlem.'
"I had no idea that he was going to rip the pants off and I was not ready," the actress tells EW. "I was like, 'Wait…hold up. Hold on, hold on, hold on!'"
Good says she was actually the one to throw Ri'chard's name into the ring as a possible love interest for one of the leads. "I was like, 'What about Robert? That would be so crazy.' And I feel like those who watched Cousin Skeeter growing up [are in] the same demographic that's gonna be watching this."
The Nickelodeon show, which ran from 1998 to 2001, followed young Bobby (Ri'chard) and his friend Nina (Good) coming of age. The pair learned life lessons while dealing with Bobby's chaotic cousin Skeeter — who happened to be a puppet.
Nickelodeon Ri'chard and Good on the right, with the rest of the cast of Nickelodeon's 'Cousin Skeeter.'
Harlem gives a playful nod to the costars' past. When Shawn's character is introduced, Good's Camille quips, "Wait a second, he looks like this guy named Bobby that I used to date in high school. He had an annoying cousin, Skeeter."
Shawn serves as a love interest for the hopeless romantic Quinn (Grace Byers), and is introduced in episode 4. Good tells EW that having him on set was "the best" because after navigating life in Hollywood as teenagers together, they "became like siblings."
"We really became family," Good says, jokingly adding, "We argued a lot, but we really became family."
Sarah Shatz/Amazon Grace Byers and Meagan Good on Prime Video comedy 'Harlem.'
When the actress saw Ri'chard in that scene in his skivvies, she said her big sister instincts kicked in. "The whole time, when the camera was moving — I remember at one point, I'm such a big sister. I stepped in front of the camera like, 'No, no, no, no, you cannot go that low. No, we're not gonna do it. It's not gonna happen,'" recalls Good. "I was like, 'What's happening?'"
While she may have elected to make a quick exit after Ri'chard started stripping, Good was ultimately grateful that Harlem reunited her with her former costar. "When Cousin Skeeter was over, we cried like babies. So to be able to work with him again, it just makes my whole heart and soul smile."
The entire first season of Harlem is now streaming on Prime Video.
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