NEW YORK (AP) — Janet Jackson unleashes her anger in an over-the-top, dramatic and staggering way in the latest Tyler Perry film, “Why Did I Get Married Too?” But Jackson, who portrays a self-help psychologist in a struggling marriage, explains that she has expressed herself that way in real life, too.
“One time I did,” she said. “Not to that extent … I’ve thrown one thing.”
“It was very therapeutic, I was able to release in such a way,” Jackson continued.
“It’s good. It seemed to me that you had rehearsed it before in your own life,” Perry added.
Perry says Jackson used personal experiences to fuel the pain her character attempts to hide in the film.
“The range that she was showing every day was this emotional roller coaster, and it’s all on film,” Perry said. “Everything she was going through, everything she’s ever dealt with in relationships, it shows up on her face and in her work. I think people get a real personable glimpse from what she did on film.”
Jackson’s portrayal seems personal because it happened at a personal time for the singer-actress. “Married Too” was set to begin filming the week her brother Michael Jackson died.
Jackson, 43, says she took some of the film’s intense moments off the set, although she preferred to leave it there.
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“There were moments when I definitely brought it home, and not really wanting to but you do and then eventually you unwind. It becomes very draining,” she said.
The film, which opens in U.S. theaters Friday, follows four couples reconnecting on their annual vacation-reunion. Jackson’s character, Patricia, recently released a self-help book, but will not help herself by dealing with the problems in her own relationship.
Perry plays Terry, a proud father who pleaded with his wife to have children in the film’s first installment, 2007’s “Why Did I Get Married?” Though he finally has the family he always wanted, Terry’s home is not a happy one.
While real-life couples may learn from the dysfunctional pairs in the film, Jackson and Perry are not interested in giving out marriage advice.
“Never been married,” Perry says, pointing to himself, then pointing to Jackson, “Twice divorced. You want to ask us?”
“Yeah, not a good thing,” Jackson adds.
Perry says he is not sure he will create a third chapter of the film but jokes that audiences will see him and Jackson together again.
“We’re going on ‘Dancing With the Stars,’” he laughed. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. No, I’m kidding.”
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