Posted by | Cyrena Rose
“When Black women are down with you and in your corner, you have an ally that will move heaven and earth…” –Tyler Perry
Writer, director and mogul Tyler Perry graces the November issue of ESSENCE magazine.
The mag features the tireless entrepreneur and philanthropist talking about his love for Black women, one of his last conversations with Whitney Houston the night Michael Jackson died and what intimidated him the most about taking on the role of detective Alex Cross.
The November cover star also revealed that he has a celebrity crush: Gabrielle Union. He calls Union, who played his fiancée in the drama Good Deeds, “very sexy.”
The actor and filmmaker described working with the legendary Cicely Tyson in the upcoming Alex Cross. “I was really excited to have an opportunity to be in the scene with Cecily frickin’ Tyson. Are you kidding me? And not be Madea. Are you kidding me? That was pretty awesome,” he recalls.
Perry also spoke fondly of Phylicia Rashad — whom he describes as “regal” — because “she looks like my mother… Spitting image.” He continues, “People would always say your mother looks like Clair Huxtable. Before she got sick, they could have been sisters. So, some of the goodbyes [in Good Deeds] are really goodbyes.”
The release date for Tyler Perry’s Alex Cross is set for October 19th.
The November issue of ESSENCE Magazine is on newstands now!