Tyler Perry starts his mornings with a prayer, doesn’t drink coffee, and has an enviable go-to source for advice: Oprah Winfrey. “If I’m going through something I don’t understand, she’s like, ‘Oh, I went through that in the ’80s. Here’s what you do,’” says Perry, 53. He characterizes their relationship as “big brother-big sister,” depending on who needs what. Tyler Perry Net Worth
Although Perry’s newest film, “A Jazzman’s Blues,” was released on Netflix last month, it’s actually the first screenplay he ever wrote, back in 1995. (He also produced and directed the movie.) The prolific filmmaker and actor, who has directed more than 20 movies, is probably best known for his comedic Madea series, in which he plays the titular elderly woman.
“A Jazzman’s Blues” strikes a more serious note, focusing on a love story between Bayou and Leanne, who meet as teens in 1930s segregated Georgia, and what happens when Bayou goes on to become a successful jazz singer and Leanne decides to live a life where she passes for white.
Perry—who reportedly has a net worth of $1 billion, according to Celebrity Net Worth—says he is “very, very calculated” with the timing of his projects. “To have this movie coming out around the time when there’s all this political divide and a move to try to water down and rewrite the history of Black people in this country, the timing feels miraculous to me,” he says.
Here, he talks to WSJ. about where he goes to relax, the importance of being on time and more.
Here are a few things Tyler Perry revealed to WSJ. Magazine…
On when he wakes up on Monday’s, and the first thing he does:
View this post on Instagram
About 6:30 to 7 a.m. I start my morning with prayer. [Then] I’ll go and start my workout: 45 minutes on the StairMaster and some light lifting, and then drive into work.
On his on-set routine:
I arrive in the morning. The entire crew, we have a prayer. It’s not mandatory, but anybody who wants to be there comes. I’m handed my pages for the day. My team is so on it, the actors are all ready to go. But this is old hat for us, we’ve been doing it for so long. My team and I, we really have a clear understanding of how each other moves. Tyler Perry Net Worth
On being extremely punctual:
Growing up, there was this thing that Black people were always late. I wanted to dispel that myth, so from the time I started doing stage shows, if it said 8, we were starting exactly at 8, no matter who was in the audience or not. I’d rather have someone waste my money than waste my time. Time is just something you don’t get back, and it’s extremely expensive.
On what changes he made to A Jazzman’s Blues between then and now?
View this post on Instagram
It’s 99 percent the very same story. I think I reset it in Savannah because the location spoke to me.
On his response to his work being referenced—and not in the most positive light—in the Broadway musical A Strange Loop, which has earned a Tony and a Pulitzer, and whether he has seen the play:
I have not seen it and I don’t plan to see it. But I have spoken to Michael [R. Jackson]. I’d heard all these things about it, and Whoopi [Goldberg] had a different take on it. She said, “Tyler, I know that people are saying it’s offensive, but what I took away from it was it was this young man realizing he could never be you, so he had to be himself.”
On what makes him feel the most productive:
When it’s done. I’ll tell you this quick story: I was interviewing for a job in Metairie, La., back when I was 19, 20 years old. David Duke [former leader of the Ku Klux Klan] had been elected [to the Louisiana House of Representatives]. I went to do a job interview and there were four or five white men who all interviewed before me. The manager interviews all of them, never interviews me. I see him give my application to a salesman. The salesman takes me into the office. I knew that I didn’t get the job but he’s asking me all these questions. He looks at my application, like, “You didn’t finish college, you didn’t finish this application. You never finish anything.” As offended as I was by that as I left, I never forgot that. Finishing is so important to me. Tyler Perry Net Worth
On how he approaches self-care and relaxation:
View this post on Instagram
I have a place in Wyoming that is the most peaceful place I’ve ever been to. It’s so quiet, I’ll hear a bee fly by and it sounds like a jet engine. That place is something that opens me up to relax and to be free and rejuvenate and revive.
On the one piece of advice that’s guided him:
I had someone in my play very early on, and I could not afford to pay her because the stage show didn’t make any money. She said to me, “Never tell people you’re going to do something—only say what you can do.” I was very young, probably 20. It helps me to be incredibly honest and I only say what I can do.
Featured image: TYLER PERRY STUDIOS COURTESY OF WSJ. MAGAZINE
For the latest in fashion, lifestyle and culture, follow us on Instagram @StyleRave_
—Read Also
