Tyler Perry’s Iconic Character Madea Makes Her Return In A Madea Homecoming
Madea's back!
In Tyler Perry’s A Madea Homecoming, Madea prepares to host her family who have come to town to celebrate her great-grandson’s graduation from college — but hidden secrets threaten to destroy the joyous family homecoming. I spoke with the man of many hats Tyler Perry about Madea’s return to the screen.
The 2019 film Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral was meant to be the final installment in the Madea Cinematic Universe, but the current state of the world encouraged Tyler Perry to bring her back. “I think people need to laugh and what I have in my toolbox to make people laugh is Madea. The timing was right to have her come out and just be wild and out of the box and hoping that belly laugh happens to people,” Tyler Perry shared with me. “She's managed to be around so long because so many people can relate to this type of grandmother. We’ve all had her in one way or another, no matter what our race, so that's why I think she's still around.”
A Madea Homecoming finds Madea meeting up with Irish actor Brendan O’Carroll’s motherly character Agnes Brown. “We wanted to do something for a very long time,” he said. “Because of the pandemic, he wasn't touring, he wasn't in Europe, and I wasn't touring. The timing just came together and he said yes. I'm super excited that he did because I think the two of them together are magic.”
The film highlights the themes of HBCUs and the homecoming experience, taking inspiration from Beyoncé’s Homecoming. “She's the queen bee so, of course, she inspired a lot of that. I was at that Coachella and I remember the magic,” said Perry. “I remember standing there thinking, ‘Man, this would be a great spoof,’ so I did a little bit of it.”
A Madea prequel series is coming and we get a hint to her past in a flashback in A Madea Homecoming. “This was a flashback of some story that she’s been telling for years that’s just ridiculous,” he said. “I just wanted to poke some fun at it, [but we are] in the beginning stages of writing [the show] right now [with Showtime]. I’m going to hire an actress to actually play the role and take her back to the 70s of some of her early times. It should be a really fun ride when we get it all together.”
Perry even jokes about exploring more of Madea’s brother Joe in our interview. “As much as I don't like the makeup of Joe, every time I'm in Joe's character I'm having a good time because he is one funny character,” he laughs. “Man, the things he says! He needs his own movie, so maybe I’ll work on that next.”
With this new Madea film, Perry hopes it encourages people to be “open to understanding and accepting other people.” “Love is love, right? Life is so short, just enjoy it. But more than anything, I want people to laugh so much that they feel better,” he shared. “Just laugh till you hurt, that’s my hope.”
A Madea Homecoming is now streaming on Netflix.
