Friday, March 29, 2024

Tyler Perry Says Actors Turned Down His New Film ‘A Jazzman’s Blues’

Tyler Perry
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*Tyler Perry is speaking out about his upcoming highly anticipated coming-of-age film “A Jazzman’s Blues,” which is set to debut on Netflix on Sept. 23.

“I’m beyond excited about it,” Perry says on the PEOPLE Every Day podcast about the drama set in the 1940s. “It’s something very, very different for me. And, so far the reception of it has been incredible.”

As reported by PEOPLE, Perry,  52, first wrote the screenplay back in 1995 and inspiration for the film came from an August Wilson play. Perry met the playwright at one of Wilson’s plays in Atlanta. 

“I was telling him that I had all these stories that I wanted to tell, and he was very, very encouraging about me writing what I wanted to write. I went home that night and started writing A Jazzman’s Blues.” 

READ MORE: Tyler Perry Hopes His Atlanta Studio Has Impact on Future Creators

Tyler Peeey
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The writer-director admits that some A-list actors turned down an opportunity to appear in the film.  

“Unfortunately with this film, I went to a bunch of up-and-coming young artists who were getting a lot of attention and I asked them about doing the role. They read the script, they loved the script, but I think there was a reservation or hesitation about working with me in particular on this film, because I guess they didn’t know how it would turn out.”

Perry added, “Too bad, so sad for them.”

He continued, “A lot of times these teams don’t necessarily understand the power of my audience and what I bring. The people who are in [A Jazzman’s Blues] made it exactly what it was supposed to be. It’s better than I ever thought it would be, but it’s always been very important to me to break new faces. And that has opened the door for me to be able to help so many people.”

Perry recently spoke to Gayle King about his legacy and his hope that his film studio in Atlanta impacts future generations of content creators.

“At this moment, it really is about legacy,” Perry said during a recent appearance on CBS Mornings, NBC News reports.

We reported earlier that the 330-acre entertainment complex – which used to be a military facility named Fort McPherson -is the only major film studio in the nation owned by a Black American. Fort McPherson is a deactivated Army base built by slaves.

“To have me be the owner of that very land that people were plotting and planning on how to keep 3.9 million Negros enslaved on, be owned by one Black man,” Perry said, “I think about those people — the ancestors — and what they must think if they could know that. Like, what would that feel like?”

PEOPLE reports that the payroll for his studio equated to $154 million last year. 

“I was really moved by that number,” he told the outlet, “and understanding with the strength of my audience in all of these years of investing, I am able to write those checks to that many people, many of them, women and people of color. It’s moving to me. It motivates me and it keeps me grounded and keeps me going, because I realize how many dreams have been tied up into mine.”

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