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"Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys"
BEHIND THE SCENES
by Tim Nasson
September 11, 2008


Watch "The Family That Preys" Trailer

Family That Preys

With THE FAMILY THAT PREYS, Tyler Perry focuses his attention on the elusive idea of happiness – how we attain and protect it and what can happen when family members are overtaken by power and greed. Charlotte and Alice become forced to reevaluate their lives when one suffers a personal tragedy. Together they share a newfound commitment to self-discovery and search for greater personal fulfillment.

The film is somewhat of a departure for Perry whose previous films have all primarily centered on African-American characters. “I wanted to do something different this time,” explains Perry, “I originally started out telling a story about infidelity, and then went in a whole other direction with these two families who have members preying on one another.”

Producer Reuben Cannon sees this film as not simply a departure for Perry, but also an exciting and daring creative move for the young filmmaker. “Tyler’s audience expands with each new film,” says Cannon, “and they join him on his journey and the journey of his characters.”

As with all of Tyler Perry’s films, the idea for THE FAMILY THAT PREYS grew out of his own personal experience. “I was going through this time in my life where I was having a lot of success, but I wasn’t happy,” shares the talented young actor-producer-director, whose film career includes a string of hit feature films, skyrocketing DVD sales, a New York Times best-selling book and the hit cable television series “House of Payne.” As the only African-American to ever own a major motion picture and television production facility, the New Orleans native admits that even with his litany of accolades and professional achievements, he had to learn to simply be happy. “I just decided, ‘you know what? I want to live today because tomorrow’s not promised.’ That’s what it came down to for me.”

Charlotte Cartwright is a wealthy, widowed businesswoman running a successful contracting company started by her late husband. Charlotte’s life is complicated by the demands created from her philandering son and his unsavory business practices which repeatedly force her hand. Charlotte finally takes stock of her own life after receiving some personal devastating news. Blindsided, she decides to throw caution to the wind and embark on an unforgettable road trip with her best friend, Alice (Woodard) to recapture the joy of being carefree.

As mutual fans of one another’s work, Bates and Woodard had hoped for many years to someday work together, waiting for the right project to avail itself. So when this opportunity finally arose, Bates says she jumped at it. “Alfre is the main reason I did the film,” shares the actor turned director. “She’s such an incredible actress, a wonderful human being and a great activist. Working with her has given me deep, deep pleasure.”

Flattered by Perry’s invitation to star in the film, Woodard was equally as thrilled with the opportunity to star alongside Bates, an actor whom she likewise greatly admires. “Actors talk about using their bodies as instruments and Kathy is like playing a Stradivarius,” says Woodard. There’s nothing finer. “There are times when you’re reminded of why you got into this whole discipline in the first place and Kathy and I have shared some of those moments.”

Perry feels he received two of the best creative gifts on this film – the opportunity to collaborate with both Bates as well as Woodard. It was producer Reuben Cannon who suggested casting the two acting heavyweights, but Perry was uncertain they would accept. “I just thought, there’s no way Academy-Award® winning actress Kathy Bates - the “Misery” woman, will do my film,” recalls a jubilant Perry. As it turns out, Perry’s high expectations about working with Bates were far exceeded. “The first scene I shot with Kathy was in a church and the camera is moving around the sanctuary, then it lands on Kathy’s face,” Perry recalls. “The woman didn’t say a word – and she just wrecked the whole place just by the look on her face – that’s how powerful she is.”

Says Bates “one of the wonderful things about being older is that your life is full of so many emotional experiences, you have so many things to call on…Alfre and I were both very full emotionally and we could bring all of that to these scenes.”

As Charlotte’s best friend, Alice Pratt, Woodard portrays a disciplined, conservative woman of humble means and high ethical standards who owns a small diner and remains supportive of her two adult daughters (Sanaa Lathan and Taraji P. Henson). As a true pioneer among African-Americans in the film industry, Woodard’s stellar film and television repertoire includes multiple accolades including an Oscar® nomination in 1983 for “Cross Creek.” “Working with Alfre has been such joy,” says Perry. “I would give her direction to see where she would go, like ‘be more gentle with it’ – and she’d adjust to a place that would make me go ’Whoa! She is absolutely amazing!’”

Always excited by the creative process, Woodard also welcomed the opportunity to work with a young up and coming filmmaker. “Self discovery and the cohesion between actor and director is what makes you feel like you’re making a picture with your big brother,” shares Woodard.

The feeling of familiarity was especially present between Woodard and her co-stars Sanaa Lathan and Taraji P. Henson. “It’s a great present to me getting to work with Sanaa and Taraji who are two of the most talented and exciting young actors of their age group,” says Woodard. This film marks the third time that Woodard has starred alongside Lathan in the role of mother and daughter.

In portraying Andrea, the first in her family to graduate from college, Lathan’s character struggles to reconcile her modest, working class background with the more affluent lifestyle she desires and vehemently pursues for herself. “She’s a climber,” says Lathan. Unfortunately the choices she makes to improve her circumstances on her way up the ladder make “Andrea” ruthless to the core. While standing alongside her new husband Chris (Rockmond Dunbar) on their wedding day, Andrea meets the man with whom she eventually engages in a passionate five-year affair. “I guess I would call her the villainess,” says Lathan. “She’s not the most honest person and does not have much integrity,” says the Yale drama school graduate who admits it was difficult to play such an unsympathetic and calculating woman. “At times I wanted to play against her meanness, but Tyler would push me saying ‘she’s ruthless, she’s cold,” says Lathan. “I guess there are people like that, so you can’t judge the character.”

Andrea clashes constantly with her more level headed, down-to-earth sister Pam (Taraji P. Henson). Henson’s character provides hope for her family as they struggle to overcome marital infidelity and financial scandal. Happily married to a working class construction worker (Tyler Perry), she is content with the simplicity of her life.

Perry had his heart set on casting Henson, a Washington, D.C. native whom the director had met while attending the NAACP Images Awards. Little did he know, Henson had spotted him at the same event before he could make his way over. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh there’s Tyler, so I ran over to him between a break and we hugged,” Henson recalls. Touched by the “soulfulness in her eyes,” Perry says he was also moved by the versatility of her riveting performance in “Hustle and Flow.” But then, “after I saw her in ‘Talk To Me,’ I said ‘I’ve got to work with this woman because she’s a firecracker and a ball of fun.”

Henson welcomed the chance to add Pam to her slate of characters – this time playing the virtuous and moral sister opposite Lathan’s ruthless “Andrea.” She also feels grateful to Tyler for casting her, “I’d done some pretty gritty characters before this film and some people might not have been able to see me in this role, but Tyler has this great way of thinking out of the box and of mixing old Hollywood with new Hollywood very successfully,” she says adding, “This film is about love and money and how those things can destroy a family,” explains Henson.

Perhaps best known for his starring role as a dedicated and loving dad on Showtime’s long running television drama “Soul Food,” actor/producer Rockmond Dunbar plays Chris, a blue-collar construction worker married to Lathan’s “Andrea” who is committed to providing for his family. Yet despite his best efforts, Chris’s marriage and the paternity of his son are threatened by his wife’s affair.

“I’m one of those men who loves his wife through and through,” says Dunbar. “But she’s an adulteress and I’m sort of gullible. There’s a point in the film where you go ‘wow, you didn’t see that coming!’” A fan of Perry’s work, Dunbar enjoyed being a part of the ensemble cast as well as part of the legacy he feels Perry is building. “Several friends of mine who had worked with Tyler said he was incredible. They told me, ‘you can expect this and you can expect that’ and Tyler lived up to every preconception I had of him,” shares Dunbar. “He works extremely hard, he’s very particular about things, and knows exactly what he wants from everyone.”

Cole Hauser plays Charlotte’s son, Nick Cartwright, a young man driven by professional ambition and desire. No stranger to playing the role of villains, as with his role in John Singleton’s “2 Fast 2 Furious,” Hauser welcomed the challenge of portraying a darker character.

“I usually play the role of the ‘hero,’” says Hauser, “and at times, those roles can be boring to portray and even dull for audiences to watch. So I enjoy playing a character like ‘Nick.’” As a philandering husband who’s hell bent on replacing his mother as head of their family-owned corporation, Hauser insists that he still digs down deep to find the good in his character. “I’m a good guy, married with kids, but I’ve got some other things stuff going on that’s affecting people’s lives.”

As secret lovers in the film, Hauser and Lathan portray a couple carrying on a long-term affair unbeknownst to their spouses. “In the grand scheme of things, the audience will probably look at our characters and think negatively of us, but people do cheat on their wives and husbands and sometimes they fall in love. So we really fought to show our connection.”

Says Cannon, “Their characters are indicative of the kind of narcissistic and self-indulgent people who do what they want because they’re completely selfish….I think they both do a fantastic job at bringing that scenario to light.”

A professional thrill for Hauser was the opportunity to work opposite Bates. Because of the contentious nature of their mother/son relationship – with him trying to replace her as head of their family business at every turn – all of their scenes were adversarial. “We did a scene together where we’re sitting in the boardroom looking at each other smiling, not in a pleasant way, but like two evil people,” Hauser recalls. “I’m thinking to myself, ‘I learned to be crafty and sneaky because of the way you raised me as a woman’,” he says.

Bates recalls that scene fondly. “That was my very first scene with him and we’re at our most ferocious with each other, so that was a lot of fun to start off that way,” she says. At one point, Hauser started making up lines while the cameras were rolling that were not in the script. “That really pissed me off – which was good for the scene,” recalls Bates. “We had good chemistry together.”

Rounding out the ensemble cast of PREYS, actress KaDee Strickland portrays Jillian Cartwright, Hauser’s naïve and supportive wife who is blindsided when she learns of her husband’s affair. “Cole called me the minute he got in town and said ‘let’s talk about our relationship’ recalls Strickland, who had worked with Hauser on a previous project. “I appreciate him so much for that because it helped create the history between us, so that when you have to play this huge fight or loving moment, there’s someone opposite you who’s invested as well.”

Calling Bates and Woodard “human anchors,” Strickland was thrilled as an evolving actress to have an opportunity to work with them. “These women are powerhouses, luminous human beings that have such humanity about them, you can’t deny it and it was wonderful to be in their midst.”

Principal photography began in early March of 2008 and the cast and crew shot on location for five weeks in Atlanta, New Orleans and briefly in Arizona.

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Wild About Movies provides you with more movie posters, movie trailers, movie synopses, Behind The Scenes of movies, and celebrity interviews than any other movie website. At WAM you are able to peruse the movie trailers, movie posters and movie synopses of more than 500 movies not yet in theaters (and more than 75,000 movies formerly in movie theaters and currently on DVD). The lastest additions: "Assassination Of A High School President," starring Bruce Willlis. The Clint Eastwood movie "Gran Torino." The sci-fil horror flicks "Pandorum" and "The Unborn." Kevin James as "Mall Cop." "The Burning Plain," starring Charlize Theron. The first "Wonder Woman" movie of the millennium. "The Education Of Charlie Banks" and "Pippa Lee." Clive Owen in "The International." "Lovely Still" - featuring Martin Landau & Ellen Burstyn. Isla Fisher in "Confessions Of A Shopaholic." And Mickey Rourke as "The Wrestler." Jamie Foxx and "Iron Man," Robert Downey Jr., in "The Soloist." Matt Damon in "Green Zone." And "Nothing Like The Holidays," John C. Reilly in "Cirque Du Freak." Patrick Swayze in "Powder Blue." Jake Gyllenhaal as "Prince of Persia: Sands Of Time" and "The Dark Knight" himself, Christian Bale, as John Connor in "Terminator Salvation." Sam Raimi's "Drag Me To Hell." Oscar winner Adrien Brody in "The Brothers Bloom." Rose McGowan as "Red Sonja 2010." Gerard Butler in three movies; "Game" and "Law Abiding Citizen" and opposite Katherine Heigl in "The Ugly Truth." And "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail." Rob Zombie's "Tyrannosaurus Rex." "Street Fighter" and Justin Chatwin in "Dragonball." Also Keanu Reeves in "The Day The Earth Stood Still." And Seth Rogen is "The Green Hornet." "Witchblade 2009," as well as "Fame 2009." And Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor as lovers in "I Love You Phillip Morris." Sequels: Everything from Daniel Radcliffe naked not in "Harry Potter 6," but Daniel Radcliffe naked at WAM and on Broadway in "Equus." The Disney 3D films "Cars 2" and "Toy Story 3." Shia LaBeouf in "Transformers 2" and Jason Statham in "Crank 2" and Michael Douglas in "Wall Street 2." And "Transporter 3." Vin Diesel in "Fast And Furious 4." Kate Beckinsale in "Underworld 3." Steve Martin's "The Pink Panther 2," and the requisites, "Ice Age 3" and "Cloverfield 2" and "Iron Man 2." The very delayed "Star Trek XI." The prequel of "The DaVinci Code," "Angels & Demons." Need more movies? Channing Tatum in "GI Joe The Movie." And Seann William Scott in "Trainwreck: My Life As An Idiot." The big screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" and two Tony winning plays turned movies, "Doubt," starring Meryl Streep, and "Frost Nixon," starring Frank Langella (each who will most likely earn 2009 Oscars). Also "Sunshine Cleaning" and Disney's new fave actor, The Rock, in "Race To Witch Mountain." Also, "Friday the 13th 2009" and Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio's next collaboration, "Ashecliffe" aka "Shutter Island." In addition, the big screen incarnations of "Marley & Me" and "The Spirit." Sacha Baron Cohen is "Bruno." Nicolas Cage in "Knowing." Also "Good" and the long delayed "Killshot." Brad Pitt in both "Inglorious Bastards" and "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button." The big screen adaptation of Maurice Sendack's "Where The Wild Things Are" and director Michael Mann's "Public Enemies" and "Taken," starring Liam Neeson. "Local Color." Along with "Watch Out" and "The Escapist." - More? Sure! Peter Jackson's "District 9" and "The Lovely Bones" and "The Hobbit Movies." Leonardo DiCaprio in "Revolutionary Road." And Kenneth Branagh's "Thor." And the 3D "They Came From Upstairs" and "Monsters vs Aliens." "The Smurfs Movie;" and "Splice;" and "Push;" "AstroBoy." The big screen version of "Land of the Lost" and Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" and Ben Stiller's "Chicago 7." And a slew of animated and non animated Walt Disney movies, many in 3D: including "Hannah Montana The Movie" and "Fraggle Rock: The Movie" and "The Jonas Brothers Movie 3D" and "Bolt," "The King of the Elves" and "Rapunzel," "The Bear and the Bow;" "Newt," "The Princess And The Frog," "Up," "Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea" and And Universal's animated movie "The Tale Of Despereaux." Heath Ledger's last movie, "Dr. Parnassus." "Black Devil Doll." The four Jonas Brothers in the big screen adaptation of "Walter The Farting Dog" and Wesley Snipes in "Gallowwalker!" Also: Zac Efron in three big screen movies: "Footloose 2010," "17 Again" and "Me And Orson Welles." Also "Bitch Slap" and Daniel Craig in "Defiance" and as 007 in "Bond 22," which now has the official title "Quantum of Solace;" "Delgo" and "Pope Joan" and "Hotel For Dogs." Benicio Del Toro as "The Wolfman" and "Che." And "Notorious." Also, Hugh Jackman as "Wolverine;" "Valkyrie." The movies "He's Just Not That Into You," James ("Titanic") Cameron's "Avatar;" "Watchmen," (from the director of "300"), "The Bad Lieutenant 2009" and Hilary Swank in "Amelia." And Nicole Kidman in "Australia," and the non Disney animated movie "Coraline." And "Two Lovers" and Anne Hathaway in "Bride Wars." "The Reader," starring Ralph Fiennes. Robert Downey Jr. as "Sherlock Holmes." Will Smith in "Seven Pounds." The Italian worldwide hit "Gomorra," as well as the Chinese blockbuster "Red Cliff." Not to mention the Australian smash "The Tender Hook". And "Fanboys" and Julia Stiles in "Cry Of The Owl" and Diablo Cody in "Jennifer's Body," which she also wrote. "Captain America" and Sean Penn as Harvey "Milk." And don't forget the must 'not' sees "My Bloody Valentine 3D" and Uwe Boll's "Far Cry." "How To Be A Serial Killer." Also, the "2009 Oscars." Our latest entry - "The Jonas Brothers Concert Movie 3D" - in select movie theaters Super Bowl Weekend 2009. For the current and complete 2008 movie box office report... (continue)




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