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<\/a><\/p>\nOnly Tyler Perry could get Kimberly Elise, Janet Jackson, Loretta Devine, Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad and Macy Gray in one room for a press conference. As much as these women were eager to appear on the behalf of their beloved writer-director, they were also there to promote the words Ntozake Shange who wrote the play upon which their film is based, For Colored Girls Who have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n In their version, titled For Color Girls<\/em>, each actress assumes the role of a woman struggling with a particular issue ranging from simple relationship troubles to more severe problems. Elise plays Crystal, a woman trying to manage her husband\u2019s violent rage. Thompson is Nyla, a young girl thrilled to lose her virginity, but devastated with the consequences. Jackson is Jo, a magazine editor who\u2019s so wrapped up in her work, she fails to notice when the people around her need help. Devine is Juanita who is frustrated with the fact that she never knows if the man she loves will still be there when she gets home from work. Newton plays Tangie, who has a habit of bringing a new man back to her apartment every night. This behavior doesn\u2019t go over well with her watchful neighbor, Rashad\u2019s character, Gilda, who only wants to help. Rose plays Yasmine, a dance instructor just looking for Mr. Right while Washington plays Kelly, a social worker pained by her inability to make a difference. Lastly, Gray appears as an abortionist who doesn\u2019t exactly have the tools to perform a proper operation.<\/p>\n \n It may seem like a lot to keep track on in words, but on the screen each lady is given the opportunity to bring her character and Shange\u2019s words to life. Thanks to the gravity of the material, this was no easy task, but with Perry\u2019s assistance, each and every one of them were able to overcome their anxiety and do this iconic piece of literature justice. Check out all of the details for yourself below.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Tyler, how do you balance your words with Ntozake Shange\u2019s words and how much screen time each actress gets?<\/span> Anika, what\u2019s your process for preparing for such an emotional moment like the scene in the hospital? And Tyler, what did you have to do to help get her there?<\/span> When was the first time any of you interacted with the story before you came to the movie?<\/span> Tyler, the book was responsible for giving a voice to women of color, so were there any specific hurdles you had to overcome in making this film in a climate where we don\u2019t necessarily need her words anymore?<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n How did you all detox after the film?<\/span> Phylicia and Loretta, many look at this piece as a rite of passage for women of color. Does it seem that way to you?<\/span> Was there anything about your parts that made you question if you\u2019d be able to pull them off and how\u2019d you get over those hurdles?<\/span><\/strong> <\/span> Rose<\/strong>: It was a very tactile set. It seems so weird because it was happen rarely, but there were times when Tyler would just stop and hug you.<\/strong><\/p>\n Divine<\/strong>: He did? He didn\u2019t do that with me. [Laughs]<\/p>\n Kerry Washington<\/strong>: <\/span>We had the benefit of having an actor as our director, so he\u2019s walked where we\u2019ve walked and he cared for us, protected us. He trusted us because he knows, he\u2019s been there as an actor and that was a great lesson for all of us.<\/p>\n Perry<\/strong>: I know how traumatic it can be to go that deep inside of yourself to get that range of emotion, to get that kind of performance. There have been people who have gone to these deep places in film and have not been able to come out. There have been actors who had not been able to come out who left the set and went home, not that any of these ladies would do this, but have left the set and whatever was going on with them, OD\u2019d. The history books are full of them, so it was very important to me that they all knew they were safe and after it was done I\u2019d do what I can to pull them back up out of it – except Loretta. [Laughs]<\/p>\n \n Macy, Ntozake recently said she really liked your performance. How does that make you feel?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Macy Gray<\/strong>: That\u2019s the best compliment because the writer\u2019s the one that sees everything and it\u2019s their vision and their story. All the characters are really complex, just so far away from what most people do, definitely myself. [My character\u2019s] an alcoholic, which I’ve been some nights. [Laughs] She\u2019s a bit of an agoraphobic. She\u2019s always in her little spot and I go out a lot so preparing for it was really a step away from what I do in a day. I watched different TV shows I thought she would watch like creepy stuff, reality stuff, porn. [Audience Laughter] What else would she watch? She\u2019d watch porn, right? [Laughs] Tessa also watched porn.<\/p>\n \n Tessa, would you like to clarify how you did prepare?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Thompson<\/strong>: I mean, does one really need an excuse to watch porn? [Laughs] No, let me clarify. The scene that Macy and I shot was about an experience that is extremely frightening, so in that particular instance I did, the day-of, I watched some porn because actually I don\u2019t watch porn, and I hadn\u2019t and I watched some porn that was frightening just to understand what it would be like to be in an experience that has to do with your body and also to understand what it would be like to be in an experience that\u2019s painful, but has to do with correcting an event that was pleasurable and what that means to a young woman, the dichotomy of that.<\/p>\n Perry<\/strong>: <\/span>I need to say this: <\/span>Tyler Perry Studios, Lionsgate or 34th Street Films did not supply the porn. [Laughs]<\/p>\n \n Was it difficult to work out a schedule with such a big and busy cast?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Perry<\/strong>: Yeah, that\u2019s why all of them aren\u2019t here now. It was a nightmare for the producers trying to juggle schedules and times. It was one big jigsaw puzzle we had to put together and I\u2019m glad we were able to work it out. Whoopi had The View<\/em>, and Janet had some things going in Europe.<\/p>\n Jackson<\/strong>: I think Kerry was the biggest challenge.<\/p>\n Washington<\/strong>: I felt really lucky. When you talk about God bringing the project back, I got really lucky. There were two weeks of exteriors shot in New York and those happened to be my exact last two weeks on [Race<\/em>], so I was shooting the movie in the daytime and doing the play at night, and then we all went to Atlanta.<\/p>\n
\nTyler Perry<\/strong>: I just wrote the story. I wasn\u2019t thinking about characters or who would play what. I just wrote a story about eight women who don\u2019t know each other, whose lives are crossing. I went back to Ntozake\u2019s work and I was struck by a lot of it because it\u2019s so beautiful and the melody is so great; it\u2019s almost like music.<\/p>\n
\nAnika Noni Rose: <\/strong>My inspiration was the words. This woman had gone through something that is unthinkable and I thought that what Ntozake put down on paper, about the way we trust people with ourselves, with our spirits, with our bodies and with our lives was so clear to me that I just tried to allow it to live, as truthfully and as clearly as I could. It was important to me not to put a whole lot on it. I didn\u2019t want to be boo-hooing through the whole scene. If tears happen, that\u2019s great, but that wasn\u2019t my plan. My plan was to live these words and allow them to be clear. So many people don\u2019t get to say that out loud. So many people go through these things and they never get the chance to say, \u201cSomebody hurt me and I didn\u2019t deserve it,\u201d or they\u2019re afraid to or they\u2019re told not to; they\u2019ve been scared into silence. It\u2019s important for those words to be heard and to be heard truthfully.<\/p>\n
\nTessa Thompson<\/strong>: I read the play as a little girl. There was a copy of it and I came across it. I was really taken back by the cover. I read it and continued to have experiences where I would read it throughout my life since I first found it, so I\u2019ve had a long time to become familiar with the material.
\nLoretta Divine<\/strong>: I auditioned for one production of it and I was cast. I was in graduate school and they wouldn\u2019t let me out, so I had to make a choice whether I was going to do the play. I finished grad school up and now everything\u2019s come full circle and I\u2019m glad it did.<\/p>\n
\nPerry<\/strong>: Somebody had brought it to me years ago. An agent at William Morris, said, \u201cDo you want to do this?\u201d I said, \u201cNo.\u201d Then Whoopi brought it to me. She wanted to do a revival on Broadway. I said, \u201cNo.\u201d I talked to Ntozake and at the time I wasn\u2019t really interested. I\u2019ve been hearing the title and then somebody else brought it to me and said, \u201cYou should really think about doing this.\u201d So after the fifth time, I was like, \u201cOkay guys, something\u2019s here.\u201d It was intimidating work because it means so much to so many people, especially women, not only women of color. I think that the most important part of the entire work is the final words that are said, \u201cI found God in myself and I loved Her fiercely.\u201d I think it\u2019s all about all of these women who, no matter who you are, what race you are, taking their journey, walking through your life and finding God for yourself, inside yourself and loving yourself.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nKimberly Elise<\/strong>: I live a very peaceful, relaxed, joyous life and practice meditation regularly, yoga, hike and eat very healthy and part of the things I did for this was let all of that go because I knew that would take me off balance and Crystal had to be off-balance. So to deny myself those things was a lot and it left me vulnerable and exposed and in a place that would allow her to inhabit my body and speak her voice. <\/span>I went to make this movie with about five grey hairs. I came home and found about 50 and I\u2019m not kidding. Your body doesn\u2019t know it\u2019s pretend. It shows up and manifests itself, so when I came home, there was Crystal still there. <\/span>I thought it would go away and I thought, \u201cOh, they\u2019ll grow back because I\u2019m not doing Crystal anymore,\u201d and they didn\u2019t. <\/span>A couple weeks ago, I surrendered to the dye job for the first time and had to get the Crystal covered. <\/span>I came back to my yoga and meditation and literally did do a 21-day detox with water and pure foods, yoga, everything and just cleansed. I had to push her out and let Kim come back. <\/p>\n
\nPhylicia Rashad<\/strong>: Early on in the process of filming, we would sit in the makeup trailer and we would talk about this piece. We would talk about just anything related to it. It came to us all in one, collectively, in an instant that all women in the world are colored girls because the color that Ntozake Shange is referring to has not to do with the color of one\u2019s skin; it has to do with mood, heart, spirit, experience, emotion, expression, understanding or lack of it thereof and understanding who the poet, playwright, star, dancer Ntozake Shange is. We understand this piece is an outgrowth of her studies in literature, in women studies, her experience as a professor of literature, her development as a dancer, her expression as a poet and a playwright. That\u2019s a lot. I think it\u2019s a rite of passage for all people. When we understand women correctly, society changes. When women understand ourselves correctly, we change society.
\nDivine<\/strong>: And to that, I would like to say, \u201cDitto!\u201d [Laughs]<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nJanet Jackson<\/strong>: Acting has always been a challenge for me and that\u2019s one of the reasons why I love it so much. This is a character that I\u2019ve never played ever before, being so shrewd and so bold. She\u2019s got a lot of bitch inside of her. She\u2019s very strong and I was up for the challenge and for Tyler to have that faith in me was very exciting, so I was ready to step forward and take that challenge.
\nElise<\/strong>: There was some trepidation. Like I said, I knew that I was going to have to take myself off-center, disconnect with this spirit that I live with every day because Crystal wasn\u2019t connected. Crystal walks though the film disconnected and that\u2019s why she has all this pain and things in her life and I knew that that would be scary for me to go into that place and I had to really build myself up for it daily to go down, down in there and, at the end of every day, Tyler would say, \u201cCome back up, Kim. Come on back up,\u201d and it really was like being under water and he would be my light, \u201cCome on back up.\u201d<\/p>\n