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Saturday, October 13, 2007

LET'S GET MARRIED









TYLER PERRY POPS THE QUESTION: 'WHY DID I GET MARRIED?'

Playwright-turned-screen adaptor/director Tyler Perry has another comedic drama for fans. His latest film, "Why Did I Get Married" opens in theaters nationwide today.

It's another big screen adaptation of one of Perry's stage plays that's about the trials of marriage, and what happens to one family when a sexy temptress (Denise Boutte) comes on the scene.

The film follows four married couples who meet in snowy Colorado for their annual reunion and begin to contemplate their choice to marry when one couple's infidelity is revealed. As described by film house Lions Gate:

"Over the course of the weekend, husbands and wives take a hard look at their lives and wrestle with issues of commitment, betrayal, and forgiveness as they seek a way forward."

"Why Did I" stars and ensemble cast made up of Perry, Janet Jackson, Michael Jai White, Jill Scott, Malik Yoba, Richard T. Jones, Tasha Smith, and newcomers Lamman Rucker, Sharon Leal and Boutte. Perry told reporters that he was very excited about the cast and what the contrast of major draws and new names brought to the film, which he considers his best movie so far.

"First of all, I love breaking new faces. As I was writing the movie, the cast just came together. I just write it and surrender it. Denise really pushed for the role and I’m so glad she got it. And Janet and I were talking a week or so before we started. Jill auditioned and was perfect ... it just all worked out," he said.

"I try to grow in every film. The way the story was told was really unique and using the camera the way that I did was very different for me. For me I really stretched it a little bit. And having an amazing cast like this, really made the movie come alive because everybody brought their own personality to it."

Tasha Smith, who previously teamed with Perry in "Daddy's Little Girls," agreed that the film's parade of stars was key in the film being a successful project.

"I think there was a lot of camaraderie amongst the cast. We all just hit it off and the friendship was built day one. We all genuinely love each other," she said, though her character spews venom.

"I was going through a divorce when I was filming this movie. So I think (you see) a little bit of my ex-husband and other ex-relationships I probably put in there to help me to deal with some of the frustrations that my character had."

The film's star Janet Jackson may have asked herself about her nuptials on more than one occasion. She admitted that she personally hasn't quite figured out the secret to marriage as a two-time divorcee, but was apparently quite compatible and well-matched for the film, Perry said.

"Janet was very adamant going in [that] she wanted [it to be] an ensemble piece. I thought, 'Why don't we change this?' and she said, 'No, it's all there. It's perfect for me.' She's very fair that way," he said. "I think the biggest hurdle was getting over Janet Jackson as you're watching the movie. But if you watch it for longer than 15 minutes, you realize that Janet is not Janet. She's Patricia. She is the character, so she totally surrendered to it."

Jackson admitted that surrendering to the character wasn't that difficult, as she found a lot of herself in the hard-nosed, overly perfect Patricia.

"There was really no time to prepare for the role," she said. As a matter of fact, Perry brought Jackson on board just days before beginning shooting. "A lot of my friends call me their therapist and 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 looking into my own world and looking at what's wrong and trying to fix those things."

Singer Jill Scott, who just released her latest album "The Real Thing: Words and Sounds, Vol. 3," also slipped easily into her character. The neo-soul star likened prepping to act to that of prepping to sing.

"I don't know that it's really different," she said. "When I write a song, I tap into the emotions and the feeling and I use the emotion to write the words. It's the opposite when I act; I tap into the words to find the emotion. But [Tyler] gave us great words; he gave us great lines to say. The thing I had to do, all of us had to do, was tap into the places where you're wounded and you reveal them and that's it."

Most of the cast praised Perry on his words and his commitment to addressing serious issues in the African American community. He's known to take on tough and, at times, uncomfortable subject matter, and in "Why Did I," Perry touches on the epidemic of sexually transmitted disease among women of color.

"One thing I love about Tyler Perry and his writing is that he addresses things that a lot of times in our community, we're afraid to address," Smith said. "He keeps it real; he keeps it honest and that's why it made it really easy for us, as actors to say those words. Those are words that we've experienced or are thinking and we don't always say it, so we got an opportunity to do that."

"I think a lot of people shy away from the pressure and the responsibilities of being role models," Rucker added, "but I think that it's very important that you have a cast - not only as actors and human beings, but characters - that are intelligent, highly trained, mature, and loving people, so we are setting and example to some degree. So if that's the type of people and the type of characters we are, I found it impressive that we were modeling at least certain types of behavior that people would listen to and will emulate. He does a great job."

"We continue to see the same reflection again and again," Scott compared. "Everybody's in some kind of drug war or where everybody is some kind of negative something. But to see people that are established and are married and are working at it ... that's a reality for a lot of us."

Perry, accepting the accolades, told reporters that he finds it important to show all aspects of the African American community.

"There are so many expressions of who we are as African American people and I want to cover it all," he said. "I don't think you can lock us into one little box and say, 'This is who we are.' These particular people happen to have all gone to college, so this story will represent that side of who we are as a people. I'll be going in a lot of different directions, but what you won't see is a lot of negativity. I won't do that."

For more on the film, check out www.whydidigetmarriedthemovie.com.

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