Roommates, we know Tyler Perry as a trailblazer in Hollywood, specifically for the black community. He continuously breaks boundaries, and creates opportunities for black actors and actresses to create successful careers for themselves.
Despite all he has accomplished, Tyler says he and his stacked resume are surely “ignored” by the main stream movie scene in Hollywood.
“I clearly believe that I’m ignored in Hollywood, for sure,” Tyler says in an interview on CBS This Morning. “And that’s fine. I get it.”
Most recently, as we previously reported, Tyler Perry opened his very own filming complex called Tyler Perry studios. It is the largest studio in existence, and the first to be opened independently, without the help of a parent company. Still, Tyler says the industry does not understand the work that he does for the black community, nor does it understand what that work is.
“My audience and the stories that I tell are African-American, stores specific to a certain audience, specific to a certain group of people that I know, that I grew up with, and we speak that language,” Tyler says.
“Hollywood doesn’t necessarily speak the language,” he continues. “A lot of critics don’t speak that language. So, to them, it’s like, ‘What is this?'”
Tyler Perry has racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in box office receipts for the films included in his Madea franchise. He’s also created various opportunities through films like “Why Did I Get Married?”, television series like “The Haves And The Have Nots”, and various live plays.
“I know what I do touches millions of people around the world,” Tyler tells Gayle King. “I know how important every word, every joke, every laugh [is]. I know what that does for the people where I come from and the people that I’m writing for.”
One of Tyler’s main goals is continue to push through how the industry snubs his work, and to create opportunities for all minority groups to be represented.
“Every black person that comes to work here, they go, ‘Oh, my God, it’s heaven. Here we are. We’re represented,’ Tyler says. “LGBTQs represented. Black, white, gay, straight, whatever. We’re all represented, working hand in hand, arm in arm.”
