Arts & Entertainment
Tyler
continued from page 7
handle this pressure?
TP: Respectfully, because I know I can
only do as much as I can do. I started a com-
pany called 34th Street Films just to filter
and to look for fresh talent with new ideas.
Although I have so many ideas of my own,
I’m still very interested in helping to culti-
vate and encourage some promising new
artists. But there are a lot of people and,
unfortunately, a very small window.
KW: Kate Newell says: I’d love to know
if you have been cloned! It’s the only expla-
nation I can come up with on how you’ve
accomplished everything. And I really
admire your ability to do it all on your own
terms.
TP: [Chuckles] Kate, I haven’t been
cloned, but I work very, very hard. I never
stop, I’m always doing 3 or 4 things at once,
and I have a great team of people who help
me execute everything.
KW: Filmmaker Kevin Williams says: I
consider you to be the best example of com-
plete persistence and belief in one’s self. I
always try to remind myself of what you,
J.K. Rowling, Sylvester Stallone and others
went through when almost no one believed
in them. Many of us struggle in the start of
our career with self-doubt. How did you
motivate yourself in your early days before
others recognized your talent and saw your
potential?
TP: I would always feed myself positivi-
ty, from the Church to prayer to Gospel
music to the Bible. Even to this day, I turn
to anything that teaches good, that teaches
strength, and that you can make it. I swear
to you that those kinds of thoughts come
alive in your body and in anything you
touch because your energy goes into every-
thing you touch, everything you share and
everything you speak. So, it’s most impor-
tant that you surround yourself with positiv-
ity always, and have it in your mind at all
times.
KW: Larry Greenberg says: Now that you
have truly mastered the realms of theater,
film and television, do you have any inter-
est in getting into video games?
TP: Video games? That’s a pretty inter-
esting question. If you’re just getting into
video games at 42, that might be a little late.
Maybe some of the young rappers will try
that.
KW: Rene Harris says: I don’t have a
question but I just want to thank you for
avoiding the use of the N-word in your pro-
ductions.
Wesley Deeds (Tyler Perry) and Natalie (Gabrielle Union) in "Tyler Perry's Good
Deeds." Photo credit: Quantrell Colbert
asks you, that you wish someone would?
TP: No, people can be pretty thorough.
[Chuckles]
Even to this day, I turn to anything that teaches
good, that teaches strength, and that you can
make it
TP: Yeah, I think the only one that might
have it was For Colored Girls. I avoid it
because, again, it’s important to remain in
the flow of positivity.
KW: Is there any question no one ever
KW: The Teri Emerson question: When
was the last time you had a good laugh?
TP: Listen, I’m in desperate need of one
right now [because of Whitney Houston’s
passing]. I try to have a good one at least
every other day.
KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?
TP: Flying radio-controlled airplanes.
Only God would give me a hobby where
I’m looking up to the sky.
It’s the only time where I am able to focus
and concentrate on nothing but looking up.
It’s a fascinating hobby.
KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson ques-
tion: What was the last book you read?
TP: Gosh, I just started a novel called
“Standing in the Scratch Line.”
KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?
TP: I don’t cook, so my favorite dish to
prepare is something on the takeout menu.
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Page 8 The Seattle Skanner February 15, 2012