Tyler Perry understands the responsibility of leading by example when working with talent, a principle that shapes his unwavering commitment to ensuring actors receive fair and deserving compensation.
Perry has received recognition from countless actors who revealed he was the first to ensure they were compensated fairly. This includes Taraji P. Henson. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Henson received her first $500,000 paycheck for a role from Perry.
“I was asking for half a million. I didn’t get paid that until I did my first Tyler Perry film. He was the first person that gave — that broke the standard that I was getting paid for films, and he gave me $500,000,” Henson said during an interview on Variety’s segment titled “Actors on Actors.”
Actor Cory Hardrict also revealed that Perry paid him generously during his time starring in “Divorce in the Black,” which was directed, written, and produced by Perry.
“He paid me the most I’ve ever made in a film for three weeks ever [of work],” Hardrict said on “The Breakfast Club”. “And I’ve worked on films five months, $75 million budgets. Three weeks. That’s why I say he’s a gift from God.”
Perry’s good deeds have also benefited Keke Palmer, “Madea’s Family Reunion”; the late Cicely Tyson, “Diary of a Mad Black Woman”; and Meagan Good, “Divorce in the Black.”
Perry views these gestures of compensation as a way to ensure actors will be able to secure higher quotes for future projects.
