Over the weekend, Single Black Female starring Amber Riley and Raven Goodwin premiered on Lifetime. Before it aired, theGrio sat down with the duo who broke down the exciting project, their years-long friendship, and more.

What Lifetime describes as one of the “most anticipated events” on the network this year, Single Black Female sees Riley and Goodwin in delicious starring roles. In it, Goodwin plays Monica, a TV host in Houston reeling from a breakup and the loss of her father.

As she tries to book a role on a major morning talk show, Monica hires Simone (Riley) as a new assistant. As the story unfolds, however, it becomes increasingly clear that Simone has a dark secret as she attempts to take over Monica’s life for good.

(Credit: Lifetime)

Riley gushed about the representation in the film, praising Lifetime for making female-driven stories a priority.

“I’m excited, like I’m just so excited to see plus-sized Black woman leading a film, a psychological thriller,” she shared. “You know, we’ve been in this business for a really long time. We’ve been friends for a really long time and we finally got to do a project together in something so iconic.

Kudos to Lifetime for pushing stories about women by women. The director is a woman, the writers of the film are women, the producers that produced the film are women, and the leads in the film are women. So, it’s just amazing all around.”

Goodwin shared similar sentiments, saying she’s grateful to be a part of the project.

“I agree. You know, kicking off the year with a film like this is the ultimate for me.”

Goodwin added, “It was time for me to lead. It was time for Amber to lead. For us to be able to do that as each other’s peers, as equals, as women, as Black women, as plus-size Black women…it’s just a dope experience, so I’m excited. I’m excited for everybody to see what we did.”

(Credit: Lifetime)

Both stars say their already existing friendship made working together even better.

Riley explained, “I feel like actually being together kind of elevated the experience. You know, it’s like the words lift off the page reading it because you kind of see yourself in the role, but you don’t know what the other person is doing. Acting is reacting.”

She continued, “Honestly, it was just so natural. Also there were weird moments of, ‘This is my friend like I’m watching my friend, but no, I’ve got to focus!’”

The production process gave the actresses an opportunity to deepen their already strong bond.

Goodwin explained. “We’ve known each other for so long…it’s cool to build on the relationship we were already building, but have it be in a professional setting. It’s pretty damn cool.”

Single Black Female is available to stream now on Lifetime.

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