[IMG:L]Tyler Perry brings humor and romance to the big screen with his latest film adaptation Why Did I Get Married? The writer, director and star introduces four married couples, Patricia [Janet Jackson] and Gavin [Malik Yoba], who are struggling with the loss of their son; Terry [Tyler Perry] and his workaholic wife Dianne [Sharon Leal]; Marcus [Michael Jai White] and his breadwinner Angela [Tasha Smith]; and Sheila [Jill Scott] and her cheating husband Mike [Richard T Jones].
When the long-time friends reunite for their annual vacation together, things are turned upside down when Mike brings along his mistress Trina [Denise Boutte] and the local sheriff Troy [Lamman Rucker] joins the mix.
The ensemble cast spoke to Hollywood.com about the comedy and drama behind Why Did I Get Married?
Tyler Perry on audiences relating to the film:
“What I’d love for people to walk away from with this movie is clearly this: I think a lot of people are going to see themselves. I think there are a lot of Shielas, I think there are a lot of Angelas, I think there are a lot of Trinas, there are a lot of Terrys, there are a lot of Troys. They will see themselves and want to either get better or stronger and change or they won’t. I think that it’s just a lesson. What I’d love for the movie to be is a mirror for people to just look at themselves and say ‘Is this me, do I need to change?’ and ‘How can this help me in my relationships?’”
[IMG:R]Janet Jackson on marrying Jermaine Dupri:
“I don’t know if I would actually sign the piece of paper and actually get married. I think for myself, especially going through it twice, being divorced twice, it would be more of a spiritual commitment. Finding your soul mate and exchanging vows, that’s still marriage in a different way. That’s enough for me. I don’t really need anything else to validate what we have, not saying that you guys do, but that’s the way I think I would want it.”
Tasha Smith on bonding with the cast:
“I think there was a lot of camaraderie among the cast. We all just hit it off and friendships were built from day one. It’s so sincere. We all genuinely really love each other. We had so much fun. We would always rehearse because we knew Tyler was so busy with our shooting schedule and everything. We always wanted to get on the set and be as prepared as possible so that he wouldn’t have to get us there as far as our work was concerned. We would all come together and work it out. We would talk a lot about our characters and our relationships. The girls would hang out and bond.”
Sharon Leal on Tyler Perry:
“I think part of Tyler’s appeal, the reason he’s so loved and his fan base is so huge is because it’s undeniable that the social consciousness that he has. If you go to his website he writes letters personally to his fans and gives them an opportunity to talk and he cares about what we’re all going through as a community. It’s amazing to have someone that in tune and that caring wanting to bring important issues to help people get through.”
[IMG:L]Jill Scott on meeting Tyler Perry for the first time more than a decade ago:
“I was working at French Connection in Philadelphia…I was the manager at French Connection and Tyler comes in and he’s looking for a shirt. He’s got a nice sense of humor. He’s funny and a pleasure to talk to so we talked and then he says, ’Do you want to see a play?’ And I said ‘Okay.’ I didn’t know what that meant but he only gave me one ticket. So I go to see the play [Woman Thou Art Loosed] and … I remember this; it wasn’t the okey dokey, it wasn’t the Chitlin’ Circuit. It was smart, it was funny and it was thoughtful and it wasn’t a whole lot of ‘hee hee’ and ‘ha ha’ and ‘Yeah girl, heh, heh, heh’…I get on the bus and I am looking through the playbill and I see this guy (referring to Tyler). This guy, he’s the director and the writer and I thought “Oh” … [that was] at least 12 years ago … we didn’t exchange numbers.”
Lamman Rucker on men and marriage:
“I think often the misconception is we can’t wait to run away from y’all and you all are always chasing us trying to get us to commit. I think you’d be surprised at how many men there are who actually really want the same things you want. We’re really looking forward to the same thing. Our dreams, our fantasies are very much the same, to be completely honest with you. We’re looking. We’re looking for that intimacy and everything too, seriously.”
Denise Boutte on why she got married:
“I’ve been with my husband for some time now and I think that during that time apart, I’ve been asking myself ‘Why Did I Get Married?’ Because I think that is something for you to reflect on, that can eventually make you more enriched and appreciate what it is that made you fall in love with that person in the first place. Over time, you may take that person for granted. It’s just something that happens and you start looking at the nuances of the relationship and how special it is and you come to have a better appreciation for it. That’s kind of how I utilized this experience.”
[IMG:R]Janet Jackson on playing a psychologist:
“A lot of my friends they call me ‘the therapist.’ They come to me looking for advice. I must be doing something right because they keep coming back, but I’m not very good at kind of looking into my own world and trying to pick apart what is really wrong and fix those things. I like to kind of shy away from certain issues and turn away.”
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? opens in theaters Oct. 12, 2007
