“She would beat the hell out of you but make sure the ambulance got there in time to make sure they could set your arm back, you know what I mean?” “She's strong, witty, loving, I mean really, just like my mother used to be before she died,” Perry said in a 2012 interview with NPR. He said he also was inspired by Eddie Murphy’s movie “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps,” in which Murphy played several characters, including female ones. Perry, who portrayed Madea in 10 movies, has said that in creating Madea, he drew characteristics from his mother and his aunt. “I can watch her with my granddaughter and when it’s over we’ll talk about, ‘You know why she did that.’ It’s that life lesson that you can bring up again.”

“I like the fact that in everything she does, there’s a lesson,” Copeland said. “When she was little, she’d spend the night, we’d make popcorn and she’d say, ‘I want to see Madea.’ We’d laugh and enjoy it.”Ĭopeland said she sees a little of Madea in herself - maybe more than a little. Pontious said she is such a big Tyler Perry fan that her husband once took her to Atlanta to tour his studio.īarbara Copeland, who lives in Eastover, has been a Tyler Perry fan since her 16-year-old granddaughter was much younger. She brings something good to the world,” Pontious said. She said she been to all of Perry’s movies and owns all of the plays on DVD. It will be the first time she has seen one of Perry’s plays live.īut Pontious is very familiar with Madea. Sarah Pontious of Fayetteville has tickets to see “Madea’s Farewell Play Tour” at the Crown. The character has endeared herself to Perry’s legion of fans, who are sorry to see the character being retired.

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