Writer/Director Tyler Perry Does "Bad" All By Himself - Tyler Perry p.2

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Interviews

Published on Monday, 11 January 2010 04:50

Written by Brad Balfour

Q: Being around such soulful singers and such an amazing pastor, was there ever a time during taping when you were doing the church scenes, that you literally go to church?

TP: Yeah, the entire church scene is real. I had five cameras rolling because I knew the only way to capture what I wanted is to have church, so that's what we did. [Pastor Winans] actually preached a sermon and sang the song, that was it. It wasn't like we did a million different setups; we did maybe one or two, but that thing that you feel when you're watching it is real and you can't fake that. You can't cut and resetup and cut again and re-setup and try to get it; you have to get it as it happens and I was very adamant about capturing that moment.

Just like in Diary of a Mad Black Woman, when she comes in that church, you feel it. It was the same way I wanted it in this situation and the only way for that to happen is it had to be caught all at the same time.

Q: I Can Do Bad is one of your earliest plays. Why did you wait until now to bring it to the screen? And what sort of changes did it go through in the adaptation?

TP: No rhyme, no reason. And it's so different from the play; the only thing that the movie has in common with the play is the title and Madea, that's it. It was Madea's first time on stage, I was scared to death. It was the Regal Theater, 79th and Stony Island. I had rehearsed all month the show without ever looking at a costume or putting it on, just like this. The night of the show I put the costume on and looked at myself and was like, "Oh god, what have I gotten myself into? It's sold out out there and these people are waiting."

So I'm standing there and they're saying, "Go, go, go," and Brown pushed me on stage. And that's where she was born. But no rhyme or reason for it; I just thought the time was now.

Q: What are your upcoming projects?

TP: I'm working on a new album with Mary J. Blige [laughs]. Not. I just finished Why Did I Get Married Too; it comes out in April [2010]. The first thing that [came] out, in November, [was] Precious.... And then it's Why Did I Get Married Too and I can't wait for you guys to see it because Janet [Jackson] went through all the stuff with Michael at the time and she needed the work so she brought everything she had into the film and she's got some scenes in here that I can't wait for you guys to see.

Q: And you're adapting For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf — a challenging and highly respected play. What makes you want to do that as your first adaptation?

TP: I'm writing it now, don't worry there will be no Madea in it. I know there are For Colored Girls fans who are wondering, "Why the hell is he doing For Colored Girls?" but I really really embraced the material and listened to the stories and the cast I think is going to blow people away. It is the most incredible cast of women of color, and Latin, that has ever been assembled in film. Ever.

Q: Are you sticking with the play?

TP: It's all of Ntozake Shange's work, her poems, but as you know, as everybody who knows For Colored Girls knows, there's no story there; it's all different vignettes. But what I did was each woman has her own story and all of their lives cross. It's kind of like Crash; none of the women know each other. They pass through each other's lives and they're all living their own lives but nobody knows that they're all on a collision course to meet each other.

At the middle of the movie what happens is one of the women has just started a For Colored Girls center, where women go through this 12-step program of healing from relationships and everything. A lot of the poems happen in this center when all of these women come together. So it's going to be fantastic.

I'm also working on a new play; the first date is October 4th and it's called "Laugh to Keep from Crying" but I haven't written a word yet. But it will be ready.

Q: Have you cast For Colored Girls yet?

TP: I have made five phone calls. We haven't made an announcement yet; the five women that I've spoken to have said yes, but it's 16 women, 16 major roles, and I can't wait to tell you. But the dream cast is pretty darn exciting and most of the dream cast has said yes.

For more by Brad Balfour: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-balfour

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