-Tyler, it is great to see you.
Thank you for being on the show.
I'm assuming you're in the --
You're at your studio?
Is that where you are?
-Yeah, yeah.
I'm in Sound Stage 5,
the Diahann Carroll Sound Stage.
Yeah. Yeah.
But, man, we got to get --
Listen, we got to get
a vaccine or something.
This is -- Come on, come on.
Come on, man.
We have fun together.
We fly planes and race cars,
and how can we do that here?
So, yeah, I love it.
-Please, let's just get one.
Just -- If anyone is listening,
come on, Tyler Perry wants one.
Let's go.
I mean, I've been asking.
-That's right. That's right.
-I've been asking.
-That's right.
-Please
Madea is working on one,
but I don't think anybody
wants to take it right away.
It's kind of like injecting
bleach into the body
with, like, a light
and making sure it works.
That was her idea first, so...
-How is the quarantine?
Did you create, like, a bubble
of just everyone in your world?
Or just you?
-Yeah, I've got 377 people in
quarantine, starting --
We just wrapped for a week.
So, we shoot a show for
two weeks, we go home a week,
come back two more weeks.
So, we're getting ready to
start our final show.
It's a three-week stretch,
so everybody is home right now.
They start checking in tomorrow,
re-testing tomorrow,
and we're gonna go from there.
It's like adult summer camp.
You know, I was telling them --
I was like,
"Guys, listen, I know you're all
here and beautiful
and young, single people.
I can protect you from COVID,
but I can't protect you
from the clap.
So, you know, it's all --
You've got to handle
that for yourself.
-Yeah, come on.
-This is about a COVID-free.
-Yeah, "I can only do so much."
-Can't do that, can't do that.
-Are you maintaining the pace
that you're always doing
or are things moving
a little slower?
-No, no, no.
We haven't slowed down.
My crew -- I had to have
a smaller crew,
so our moves take longer,
but, no, we're
rockin' and rollin', man.
And we have movies in
the evening on the lawn.
We have four or five different
food trucks.
We have an alcohol truck.
It's really -- We're enjoying it
as we're working.
-Gosh, that is fantastic.
You got some news recently that
you're going to receive
the Governors Award at
this year's Emmys ceremony.
What does that mean to you?
-Wouldn't you know it?
They'd do it in a year where
everything is virtual?
I said, "Listen --"
[ Both laugh ]
I'm like, "I don't give a damn.
You tell me where it is, I'm
showing up in full hazmat suit.
I will be there,"
'cause it's such
an incredible honor.
And to think that the governors
would actually consider me
for this is beyond --
I'm blown away by it.
-Well, you deserve
the recognition
for everything you're doing.
But I've got to say,
during this pandemic,
you've really been looking
out for others
and helping people.
Even just your donations.
You're giving to individuals.
You cover grocery bills
for the elderly.
You help
local restaurant workers.
Why is it important for you
to give directly to the people?
-Well, just look around
at how much direct
anger and sadness and division,
and everybody is going --
Everybody is grabbing a color
and running to a corner,
and nobody's coming together.
So I wanted to just be
out there doing things
that inspire people,
'cause I feel like if I do it,
it will inspire other people to
stop so much of this
division and come together,
because where change happens
is in the middle.
So every time I'm giving,
I'm hoping that
I'm inspiring somebody
else to do the same.
-Yeah, you definitely inspire me
to do more,
'cause I saw that
and I was like,
"Oh, I'm just
going to get delivery
even if I don't want delivery,
and I'll just tip the person."
I go, "I'll just put it in
the freezer.
I'm stocked."
Just to keep people fed
and get money
and get something moving.
-Yeah, yeah.
-I also read a beautiful essay
that you wrote
for "People" magazine in the
wake of George Floyd's murder.
It was very powerful and moving.
What is it like for you
to sit down and write that?
Did you say,
"I have to do something,"
or did somebody ask you to or...
-No, that was hard.
I was so troubled by his death.
And I -- When I started
to put pen to paper,
I had a flood of emotion.
I was in tears by the time
I got through
the first couple of sentences,
because I didn't realize how
much of it I had been carrying
and how much of it for so long.
And what happened out of all
of that tragedy,
seeing all races
galvanized together
to stand up
against police brutality,
it was really moving and
inspiring on so many levels,
so I was glad to see that,
'cause that's when
change happens.
Black and brown people are only
12% to 14% of the population,
so we need everyone
to make a change happen.
And to see us all
coming together,
that's what America is --
standing together as one,
not being divided and pitted
against each other.
-Two months after writing it
now, where is your head at now?
-Well, I've got to tell you,
I was really, really hopeful
in the beginning, because
I thought,
"Okay, everybody is galvanized.
This is gonna be great."
But what I'm seeing now
troubles me,
because it's being weaponized
in this political climate.
Black Lives Matter is being
pulled apart and ripped here.
And what I tell people about my
life and what I've done is,
listen, two years ago,
when a white police officer
was shot in the head
for trying to stop a shoplifter,
I reached out to his family
to see what I can do
to help them.
And with George Floyd
and Rayshard Brooks
and Secoriea,
this 8-year-old who was killed
at a Wendy's restaurant,
I reached out to see
what I could do to help.
It's not about race.
It's about what you do and who
you are as a human being.
And humanity is
real for all of us.
So I was trying to make sure
that we all know
that humanity comes
in all shades and sizes,
and you have to treat people as
if they're human beings
rather than as if
they're just --
They're dismissing them because
of their race or whatever.
-Yeah, I think --
Yeah, we can do better,
I think, was the big point that
I think was getting out there.
I just hope that we keep
having these conversations
until there is actual change,
and you go, "Yeah --"
-That's the point, man --
having the conversation.
If everybody is going to
their corners
and taking up arms,
nothing happens.
We've got to come to the middle
and have hard conversations,
uncomfortable conversations,
you know?
That's what we need to do.
And I think as long as
we're doing that,
we're going to see some great
things continue to move forward.
-Let's talk about "Tyler Perry's
Madea's Farewell Play."
We talked about this.
-Yes!
-Oh! Just even doing the voice.
It's streaming on
BET+ starting August 27th.
How do you think Madea
would handle quarantine?
-[ As Madea ] Well, baby,
I've been wearing my masks-s-s.
I've been wearing all
my masks-s-s-s.
Every time I go out,
I put on my masks-s-s-s.
I have one here and two here.
All my masks are all over.
[ Normal voice ] She can't say
mask, so they're masks-s-s-s-s.
-I've got to be honest,
You've talked --
I've had you on the show
so many times.
We've talked about
how these movies start with
plays and your fans.
It starts small
and just grows from there.
And I was always like, "I have
to go see you perform live,
because I want to see
what it's like."
I really -- So, you --
This is a staged play.
This is a full-on play of
your final time playing her.
But I had no idea.
It crushes. It is so fun.
-Yeah, yeah.
And that's what we need
right now.
This is what I tell people.
Get BET+, sign up for it,
watch this play.
It is so funny.
If you just want to laugh,
just have a good laugh
with Madea and Brown
and Cora and Aunt Bam
and all those characters
that you know --
-Oh! Aunt Bam --
that's my favorite.
Cassi, yeah.
-Cassi Davis is
unbelievably talented,
always scores for me.
Hooty-hoo
is all I'm going to say.
-Hooty-hoo. That's right.
That's right. That's right.
So, I tell you,
if you want to laugh,
with everything that's
going on in the country,
just watch the play.
You know, over the years,
I've sold millions and millions
of these DVDs,
and now you get to
stream it your house
just by signing up for BET+,
which I think is awesome.
-I've got to ask you,
is it really the end of Madea?
I mean, you'll never
play her again?
-You know, I said
I was done with her
unless she had something to say.
Watching what's happening
in the country right now,
I think she has
something to say.
She may be running
for president.
We'll see.
-I loved it.
I will also say, again,
about the cast,
not only are they funny, but,
gosh, they can really sing.
-Yeah. Some of the
most incredible voices.
That's why we have to use those
big, huge microphones
on the forehead, because we blow
out the other little microphones
that they use on Broadway.
-I mean, that --
-These microphones --
-Yeah, these microphones
have to handle
some really powerful voices.
-I was just like, "Wow!
That was powerful."
And we got to see Madea do some
pretty cool moves at the end.
-Yes, yes.
She went back
to her stripper days.
-Oh, my gosh.
-Yeah.
-Bodacious? What was her ---
-[ As Madea ] Bodacious, baby.
Bodacious Platinum.
That was my name as a stripper,
Bodacious Platinum.
-There's so many things
that made me laugh.
It was -- The cast is fantastic.
And it really, really
made me laugh,
and we all do need laughter.
We need entertainment.
And so thanks
for everything you do.
And, also, there's
a speech you say at the end
of the performance that I think
everyone should stick around
and just hear you talk about,
because it basically tells
everyone, "Hey, don't stop."
-Yeah. Exactly right.
-"If you've got something,
don't stop.
-Yep. Don't stop.
Things can get hard, they can
get tough, but don't stop,
because had I stopped,
I wouldn't be here now,
sitting in the
Diahann Carroll Sound Stage
on my studio lot, right?
So I tell people,
"No matter how hard it gets,
because I've had some really
dark days, don't stop."
-Tyler, please don't stop.
Thanks for taking the time
to catch up with me.
You know I love you, man.
Good luck with everything --
-I love you too, buddy.
Thank you.
