Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry: I was watching the Oprah show one day and she said that it's cathartic to write things down, so I started writing down the stuff that was happening to me. I started using different characters' names, because if someone had found my journal, I didn't want them to know I had been through that kind of stuff. That's how my first play "I Know I've Been Changed" started, which features a character who confronts an abuser, forgives him and moves on.

Tyler Perry: I was unhappy and miserable during the first 28 years of my life...The things that I went through as a kid were horrendous. And I carried that into my adult life. I didn't have a catharsis for my childhood pain, most of us don't, and until I learned how to forgive those people and let it go, I was unhappy.

(Tyler Perry talking about his oft played character Madea) Tyler Perry: Everyone knows her. We watch with nostalgia when we think about this type of grandmother. Madea being a southern term for mother dear...she's not around anymore. When she was around, everybody's kid belonged to her. She kept the entire neighborhood straight. Now we're in a different time and different age where grandmothers are in their early and late 30s. People are looking for this Madea, the 68-year-old who doesn't care about being politically correct. She doesn't care what you think about her. She's going to tell the truth.