‘I Wanted to Find Something Worthy of Her’ : Tyler Perry on Directing Oprah Winfrey for the First Time in ‘The Six Triple Eight’

Winfrey tells Variety she'd 'never say never' to co-starring with Perry's Madea.

Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey have been friends for nearly two decades, but his latest film, Netflix’s “The Six Triple Eight,” marks the first time Perry directed the cultural icon.

The film reveals the untold story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only troop of Black women and women of color to serve in Europe during World War II. The 855 women of the “Six Triple Eight,” as they were known, contributed to the war effort in a critical way — by sorting through a three-year backlog of mail (17 million pieces of it) and dramatically improving morale. Kerry Washington stars as the troop’s commander Major Charity Adams, while Winfrey portrays famed activist, educator and civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune, who was influential in the Roosevelt Administration and advocated for Black women in the armed forces.

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“I had to find the right thing for her,” Perry told Variety at the film’s press junket on Tuesday afternoon. “All these years we’ve been friends, I knew we’d work together at some point, but I wanted to find something that was worthy of her. Because she’s not a Madea kind of girl.I don’t see her sitting there with Madea having a conversation.”

Perry made his first appearance on “The -

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Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2001 (just before his success as a playwright turned to a blockbuster film and TV career) and he was integral in the early days of the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) with hit shows like “The Haves and Have Nots.” But as he began developing the Six Triple Eight’s historic endeavor as his 25th feature film, he realized it was time to put in a call to Winfrey.

“To have this moment where she’s Mary McLeod Bethune, and what Oprah represents so many, as well as what Mary McLeod represented to so many during that day, it was appropriate,” Perry explained. The choice role also sees the Oscar nominee sharing scenes with Sam Waterston as President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Susan Sarandon as Eleanor Roosevelt.

At “The Six Triple Eight’s” red carpet premiere on Tuesday evening, Variety caught up with Winfrey and asked about Perry’s perception that she wouldn’t be interested in shooting the breeze with Madea.

“Never say never,” Winfrey replied as she was whisked to her seat at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

“The Six Triple Eight” debuts in select theaters on Dec. 6 and begins streaming Dec. 20 on Netflix. See the film’s trailer below.

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