I wonder how he’ll do…
Tyler Perry has recently announced that he will no longer be playing Mabel “Madea” Simmons, he will be stepping down to focus more on his partnership with his company and Oprah Winfrey’s struggling own network that was announced last October. Tyler Perry will be handing the torch to NAACP Award nominee Orlando Jones to take over the “Madea” character.
“It is with mixed emotion that I announce that I will be unable to portray Madea in the next chapter in her journey,” Perry said. “The character has been such a gift and it was my hope and intention to play this role again in the upcoming film. But due to my commitments to the exciting new venture I am launching with OWN and Discovery Communications, I must now put all my energy into our new slate of shows that will launch on the network later this year”
“Tyler and I are obviously very sad that he won’t be able to continue,” new director Bill Duke said in a statement. “Working with him on this project has been a delight and has brought us both so much joy and laughter. Right now Tyler needs to focus on the health of his new venture and the future. We love and respect him immensely and support him during this time. We are very grateful to Orlando for stepping in so quickly.”
Jon Feltheimer, CEO of Lionsgate said, “While we are saddened to hear that Mr. Perry won’t be appearing in the next film, we are still eager to have A MADEA CHRISTMAS in theaters this holiday season and look forward to Orlando Jones giving a great performance.”
I hope Tyler Perry made a wise decision when it came to picking Orlando Jones to play such a huge character in his movies and plays.. Orlando might do better than what we think!
