Tyler Perry is a megastar, and he owes a lot of that to his signature character Madea. The foul-mouth grandmother has made him a Hollywood Titan with one of the largest film studios in the country and a long legacy of hit movies. It is safe to assume that Madea is a massive part of Perry. So big that maybe sometimes she slips into his daily life? Even the bedroom?
Madea is an amalgamation of some of the most important women in Perry’s life. This includes his mother, grandmother, and aunts. He considers Madea a “PG” version of them and jokes about how they had their own unique brand of tough love. For Perry, it is an honor to be able to pay homage to the woman who raised him.
He originated the role in his stage play “I Can Do Bad All By Myself” in 1999. Madea would then make her film debut in 2005’s “Diary of A Mad Black Woman.” She has appeared in over a dozen films, plays, and television shows and is a central character in a lot of Tyler Perry’s work.
Outside of Madea, Tyler Perry has played a handful of other characters through his film franchise and even stepped into roles he did not write, including roles such as Colin Powell, Alex Cross, and Baxter Stockman. However, it is Madea that keeps the people talking. So much so he had to resurrect the character after teasing that she had been put into retirement after following 2019’s “Madea Family Funeral.” At the time, he stressed that he did not want to be Madea’s age playing her. He since brought her out of retirement following a massive deal with Netflix and the film “A Madea Homecoming,” where he spoofed Beyonce’s own Netflix “Homecoming.”
With that much history playing her, it is safe to assume she is never too far behind wherever Perry is. Vanity Fair recently had Tyler Perry participate in their Lie Detector Test series. The hilarious segment forces our favorite celebrities to be honest while being asked outrageous questions. In it, Perry opened up about Madea being inspired by his mother. He also joked that if they could hang out, he believes Madea and his mom would bond over men and cooking.
The most revealing part of the interview came when Perry joked that he used the Madea voice during [intimacy]. While he initially tried to deny that he uses it at all outside of character, the lie detector determined he was not telling the truth. He said “on occasion” he used it during intercourse, joking that he says “heller” and sings Adele songs. While they did not clarify if he was lying or not, he does go on to say that Madea would certainly fail a lie detector test. “She has too much to hide; she’s wanted and has warrants.” He then slipped into the voice and joked that the last time Madea was strapped up, she woke up in Mexico with a strange nickname.
See more of the hilarious interview above.
