Native son Tyler Perry returns home to premiere latest film

9th October 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Emeka Dibia
Contributing Writer

Native New Orleanian Tyler Perry returned home last week to premiere his new scary movie, and while it might not make you flinch with terror, you just might die all the same – from laughter.

Hundreds of people lined up, October 3, at the AMC Elmwood Palace in Harahan, La. for all of the action as Boo 2! premiered on the big screen. Some were there just to see Perry walk the red carpet. Others came as invitees to catch the movie two weeks before it officially releases.

In Boo 2!, Madea and the gang return to the big screen to give you some big laughs in the sequel to Boo!: A Madea Halloween, which last year made more than $74 million at the box office. Madea finds herself trying to save her niece from a frat party at a haunted campground. Of course, she didn’t travel alone; she brought her outspoken brother Joe, and friends Bam (Cassi Davis) and Hattie (Patrice Lovely) along for the ride in her infamous Cadillac. The group notices that even Madea herself is frightened as monsters, goons and goblins pop up along the way.

“It’s about Madea trying to help her nephew raise these teenagers and all that they are going through,” Perry said. “Parents with teenagers know it could be difficult and I just wanted to have some fun. So here we are.”

Perry says right now with so much going on worldwide politically, a good laugh is needed.

“I was thinking about the state of the world and everything going on. We’re dealing with so much divisiveness in this nation. I just wanted to do something to bring people together so we can all just sit around and just laugh and lose ourselves for 102 minutes,” Perry said.

Perry performs quite a balancing act, as he does in most of his Madea films. The filmmaker directed the movie and played three characters: Madea, her brother Joe, and her nephew Brian.

“At this point I have a short hand with my crew. So they know where to set up. They know what to do. They know when I’m in these costumes, I’m uncomfortable and I don’t like it. So everything has to be moving like a train to get it all done. It works out because I have a good crew. So it’s not overwhelming,” Perry said.

Tyler Perry, the superstar filmmaker today, had not always been hitting big numbers at the box office. In the early 90s, after investing his life savings into a production, he found himself in financial ruin. What kept him going? He says a voice within.

“I don’t know if everybody has this thing but I would hope we all have this voice inside of us. I know it to be the voice of God. That is this positive thing that tells you you’re going to be ok. Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep breathing. Keep breathing. It’s almost as nothing has to tell you to keep breathing. But you do it anyway. So that’s what I feel about faith and moving and going on into your destiny. Nothing has to tell you to keep doing it. Just keep doing it. Keep moving forward and eventually you’ll get there,” Perry said.

Now Perry is using his influence to bring up a new wave of talent in the industry. In his latest films, he’s casted from social media including Yousef Erakat who plays “Jonathan,” Brock O’Hurn who plays “Horse,” and Diamond While who plays “Tiffany.”

“I like the option of having new faces on the screen so we did a lot of social media stars in this one as we did in the last one. And the great thing is to give these kids a shot because they so well deserve it. Media is changing, everything is going digital. So to have them be a part of it kind of ushers in a whole other generation, and that’s always exciting to me,” Perry said.

Eventually Perry says he will stop doing Madea productions but it’s unclear just when.

“I don’t know, man. Every time I say I’m done people show up at the movies and it ends up hitting these great numbers. So, we’ll see. I am determined to do it as long as people want to see it. But not when I’m her age,” Perry said.

For now you can catch Madea in Boo 2! It releases nationwide October 20.

This article originally published in the October 9, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.