Tyler Perry Interview

Tyler Perry On His Movies, Madea, and Faith

By Nicole Symmonds

Tyler Perry, you've heard the name. And even if you don't know exactly who he is--writer, producer, director, and actor-- you are familiar with the character from most of his films, Madea. Since 2005, Perry has been a pied-piper, leading people to movie theatres in droves to check out his inspirational plays-turned-movies. In the last five years, five of the eight movies he has released have debuted at number one--including his most recent film, "I Can Do Bad All By Myself." As if the sucessful movies weren't enough, he is also the creator of "House of Payne" and "Meet the Browns," TBS sitcoms which have gained large followings. All of this from a man, who not too long ago, was a struggling playwright living out of his car.

Beliefnet had the opportunity to talk to Perry about "I Can Do Bad All by Myself," how he deals with Madea's critics, and his spiritual life.

Reaching Unbelievers

Your movies always have a Christian theme, but how are you are reaching unbelievers?

It's clearly Madea. Madea is such an inviting figure. That's why I'll never change her. She'll never be saved. She'll never be Christian. She is the disarmer to invite people to come in and see the movie. And then, I'll have other characters represent that too.

I don't want to just do movies to do movies. I want to do movies that inspire, motivate, and change lives. And as long as I'm doing that, I feel like I'm doing the right thing.

But, Madea is the reason that the saved and unsaved, believers or not, Muslim, Jews, everyone will come together to see this film. I mean, she's a really great character.

Madea and Her Critics

So, is Madea a Christian?

See, there are Christians who cuss and don't go to church, I believe that she's one of those.

She's a nominal Christian?

Yeah, yeah.

A lot of critics have something to say about Madea, your portrayal of her...

Including Christians, yeah.

Some critics might say that your portrayal of her can be considered minstrelsy. How do you respond to that?

You know what? That's a high-brow comment. It comes from a certain culture or certain kind of Black person. But, what is clear and obvious to me is that there's a disconnect between those type of people and African-American Black folks, because I can take you to my neighborhood right now and you will see 20 of those women. They're not stereotypes. They exist. They're real. And people think that they don't exist.

I heard somebody say that they don't exist. That's not true. These are real people who are still around who are going to see the movie.

Do you ever think there will be an all Madea all the time movie? A movie just about her all the way through?

Oh, please. I would love to do one of those, but the problem with that is the costume and the makeup. I would be miserable. I couldn't be funny. I could not do that for 30 days straight or 60 days straight because I would be miserable and the movie would not be funny.

So, that's why she's in 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there. Maybe that movie would take a couple of years to make. Maybe I'll shoot five or six weeks of it, and then go back next year and do some more. So, who knows.

Tyler Perry's Target Audience

You mentioned that the comment of Madea being minstrelsy comes from a certain type of black person. They might be upper middle or upper class black people. Would you say that your target audience are not those black people and are more middle class Black Americans?

What I know about my audience for a fact is that it's all. It's the middle class, it's the poor, it's the rich. It's all of them, and the young and old. And that's why my stories are the way that they are.

They're very simple. They're predictable, deliberately, on purpose. I'm talking to 2 and 3-year-olds who love Madea, all the way up to 80-year-olds who were around when there were minstrel shows.

So, if these people really understood the depth of a Tyler Perry audience, I think that they would have a better appreciation for what I'm doing and could recognize the amount of work that goes into making this movie and being able to service that entire group of people.

Does Tyler Perry Go to Church?

Do you go to church?

It's really bad. It's so disrespectful. The last time I was in church was maybe New Year's and I was down on my knees--what we do at New Year's is we pray. And there are people slipping notes in my hands as I'm praying. It's so difficult now because I miss it.

It's not the same for me because when I go to some churches, the sermons become about me and they're mentioning me and talking. I just want to just go to church.

But, I have an amazing friend--her name is Bernice Davis, who is the most powerful preacher, minister. This woman knows the Bible like you would not believe. She's brilliant.

She was an atheist. Her mother was an old country woman like Madea who always talked about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. And she was going to prove to her that there was no God.

So, she went on this quest studying every religion to come back to her mother and show her that there was no God. And she studied everything. And she got to Christianity and realized that she was wrong.

We have church. She texts me tons of Bible stories and Scriptures and we have church pretty much every day, so it works that way.

The Power of Gospel Music

The movie used gospel music as a catalyst for change. How has gospel music shaped your life?

All of my life from when I was a kid, my mother and I would go to church on Sundays and that's what it would be [about], gospel music. And I would see that was the only time I really saw my mother smile was when she was up there in the choir singing and happy.

It's been very important to me and it is stitched into my fabric. I love gospel music. That Smokie Norful new song, Justified," took me out the other day. I was in the car about to wreck. The last time that happened was "Grateful" by Hezekiah Walker. I was just driving down the street and I heard it on the radio and I was just like, gosh. Then, before you know it, the tears are rolling down your face.

Who are some of your other favorites?

Yolanda Adams, Marvin Winans, of course, The Winans Family.

Tyler Perry's Favorite Bible Verse

Do you have a favorite Bible verse?

Tons of them. But, I love the story of Joseph and all he went through and David and Psalms 91. I mean, there are tons of them. But, "All things work together for the good...," you know, the things that everybody knows, but then there are some nuances.

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was high and lifted up." And what it made me realize is that in this life, the things that we need to understand is if there's something in your life that is huge and it's so big you can't see God, let it die. And if it dies and you're confused and you still can't see God--because the Bible says He was high and He was lifted up--you're looking too low. You have to look higher.

There's a lot of things that I've just discovered in reading.

What's Next for Tyler Perry?

Would you ever do a movie that doesn't have a Christian theme? Like veer off the course a bit? Is "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" that veering off?

Well, it's not a veer off. "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuff" and "Precious" both are not Christian themed. There is so much profanity--please print this. Anybody who's going to see "Precious," if you are a sensitive Christian with sensitive ears, that is not the film for you.

But, the reason why I wanted to be involved in it is because I was a little boy growing up in that kind of household, enduring those kind of things constantly. So, everything is going to be positive and inspirational.

But, anything Tyler Perry branded is gonna be that. Anything that's not Tyler Perry branded could be anything. I won't do anything that's really horrible or awful.

But, even "For Colored Girls..." just as I'm writing that film, it's just these women's stories.