Single moms, your time to shine is now. Thanks to writer-director-producer Tyler Perry, you can emerge from the shadows and take a bow. His forthcoming feature film The Single Moms Club, which hits theaters Friday, March 14, 2014, celebrates single mothers. Starring Perry himself along with our beloved Nia Long, this spunky comedy features five single moms from very different walks of life who are brought together when their kids get into trouble at their prep school. With a little coercion by the school’s headmaster, a devil wears Prada-ish mother (Jan), a fast-food worker (Lytia), a wealthy stay-at-home mom (Hilary), a struggling writer (May, played by Long) and beautiful Latina (Esperanza) become fast friends.
The moms are reprimanded and their punishment is to plan a school activity. What starts off as a train about to wreck, ends up being an extraordinary bond and friendship.
Recently, at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, this writer has the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Perry and Long to discuss how this film has inspired so many, and what’s more to come. –yvette caslin
ro: What do you want moviegoers to take away from the film?
Tyler Perry: It takes a village. The concept was born from this ideology. When you look at these women living their lives and trying to handle everything, they realize they’re more powerful together. If I can get single moms starting support groups around the country for each other, I think that would be pretty impressive.
ro: The Single Moms Club starts with a film in theaters and the journey continues with an hourlong drama, a scripted series, that premieres in the fall on OWN. What can we expect?
Tyler Perry: I am taking this story into television because I feel like these women have so much more to say. It will be a group of women from similar circumstances [as the feature film] and I am super excited about having the opportunity.
ro: Nia, you were a part of “Oprah’s Lifeclass” that delved into this topic of single motherhood. What was the total experience like during the taping?
Nia Long: Ahh! I was so nervous. I texted [Tyler] a couple days before. He told me, ‘Don’t be nervous.’
Tyler Perry: [I knew] you were going to be great, which you were.
Nia Long: He talked me off a ledge. As a young woman growing up, you watch Oprah. You feel that she’s a part of you; I am a part of her. She speaks to us on so many topics in such a way that resonates. I felt very confident going in and allowed myself to be completely vulnerable. If you’re going to do anything with Oprah to help people, you have to be totally open and vulnerable. I didn’t have the pressure of being Nia Long … I could be a mommy who experienced some of the things the women in the audience were experiencing and that was the best ever.
