On a recent episode of The View, the author and director became emotional as he remembered his late mother, Maxine Perry.
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Tyler Perry, 54, visited daytime talk show The View to promote his new documentary, Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story.
The documentary, named after his mother who passed away in 2009, showcases Perry’s life and his rise to stardom.
Co-host Sara Haines, who watched the documentary, praised Tyler for “living every word” she’s ever learned in her faith and spirituality, adding, “You’re amazing.”
Haines, 46, also shared at the table that she felt like she “met Maxine” as she watched the film, a statement which emotionally effected Perry.
“OK, wait a minute. … You met my mother through [the doc]? Wow,” the Higher Is Waiting author said with tears in his eyes. “Thank you.”
“To say that you met her through that, that takes me somewhere because she — this woman endured so much pain and she didn’t have some legacy, but she had me,” Perry added.
“To say that I was able to introduce her to you — you got me there, man. I’m sorry. … Lord, have mercy.”
Shortly after, Haines thanked the mogul and father of one for showing the world his mother’s legacy. She then went on to discuss Perry’s troubled, drama filled childhood.
Perry, however, cut the conversation short, clearly struggling to hold himself together after Haines touching comments about his mother.
“I’m sorry, guys,” reiterating that he was still moved by Haines’ previous remarks about meeting his mother. You really got me, there,” he said. “I’m sorry. I need to get myself together,” he said.
Haines also became emotional after seeing just how deeply the show’s guest was moved by her words. Whoopi Goldberg was kind enough to offer her some tissues as Perry took a moment to talk more about his mother.
“I just imagine a woman who’s lived her life with so much pain and she was always worried about everybody else and, I think, I watched her get sick, I watched her get cancer, I watched her get all of these things because her intention was, ‘Are you happy?’ ‘Are you OK?'”
“She never thought that she was important and she never thought that anybody would care,” Perry continued. “So to say that this documentary that [filmmakers] Gelila [Bekele] and Armani [Ortiz] did about my life introduces her to the world, that moves me because she was very much that special to me.”
In another interview with CBS Mornings, the filmmaker credited his mother to his life long drive to be successful.
“Everything I did was about her. All the work was about her,” Perry said. “I was never after money. It was always about making enough money to take care of her, to buy her medicine, to make sure we were never in poverty again. No matter how much I had, it was never enough.”
It’s no surprise how devoted Tyler Perry is to helping others. In another recent story, the actor even bought a home for an elderly woman in the middle of a legal dispute.
Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story will be available to stream on Amazon on Nov. 17.