Movie and TV mogul Tyler Perry surprised readers when he admitted he does not miss playing Madea and that, in fact, he has always hated transforming himself into the famous gun-toting, foulmouthed grandmother.
In an interview with Level while promoting his latest film “A Fall From Grace,” Perry spoke about a wide range of issues, including why he no longer has a “writers room.”
But it was his admittance that he has never enjoyed the experience of playing Madea that surprised the interviewer and readers. Perry was resolute in his sentiments about Madea, despite the fact that the character, onstage and in movies, raked in about $2 billion and pretty much funded the majestic and behemoth Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta.
Perry became inspired to dress up as a woman after seeing the phenomenal success that comedy and acting legend Eddie Murphy experienced playing a mom and grandmother, most particularly in the Nutty Professor and its blockbuster sequal Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.
When the interviewer asked if Perry missed Madea, his response was simple and quick: “Nope. I don’t.”
“Not even a little?” the interviewer wanted to know.
“No. We have a few more weeks of the Farewell Tour, and then I’m done.”
When Level writer said she thought Perry enjoyed playing Madea, to which Perry responded: “It was never something I enjoyed doing.”
When the writer said that he didn’t believe Perry, he insisted, “My hand to God. I hated the costume, the wig, all of it.”
Perry was then asked what inspired him to create the Madea character that has become an icon in and of itself, and Perry pointed to his idol Murphy.
The Beverly Hills Cop and Coming to America star remains one of the greatest box-office attractions in the history of American motion pictures.
“I was scared to death” to play a woman,” Perry said. “I watched Eddie Murphy and how he did his female characters. I said I’ll try it once and that’s it. And it ended up being a $2 billion franchise.”
This shocking revelation may further cement the fact that Perry’s core audience may never see the character Madea again.
