The Perfect Guy cast sat down with theGrio to talk about their new film.
The film, written by Tyger Williams, centers around Leah (Sanaa Lathan), who starts dating a new man (Michael Ealy) after a breakup from her boyfriend (Morris Chestnut). As the new situation progresses, Lathan’s character decides to reunite with her former boyfriend, and her newly spurned lover begins to stalk her.
Williams told theGrio he began working on the psycho-thriller with Lathan in mind for the main character. Lathan was flattered to learn so, and said she was “so thrilled” when Chestnut and Ealy joined the cast. The 43-year-old star had worked with Chestnut on The Best Man films, but their characters didn’t directly interact. She added she barely knew Ealy prior to this project, but became quick friends when they both decided to executive produce this film.
The Perfect Guy is a film that will likely generate conversations about harassment and stalking. Chestnut agreed and said there is a conversation about harassment currently happening in the wake of the Virginia shooting, in which two journalists were killed.
“I feel like this particular movie will hopefully spark conversation about harassment,” Ealy told theGrio. “The police need to make a case. I get that. They need to make a case. They can’t just go off your word. The problem is, how much time do you have while you’re making that case?”
Lathan said prior to doing research for the film and talking to women who have been the victim of stalking, she never realized “the system doesn’t really work for the stalkee.”
Williams, who also wrote 1993’s Menace II Society, brought up another aspect of stalking in this day and age — technology. He noted that Carter (Ealy) is an IT professional in the film, making it easy for him to utilize technology while stalking Leah (Lathan). While Carter may be a professional, it doesn’t take a computer genius to harass someone via social media these days.
Check out the cast’s full comments in the video above, and check out The Perfect Guy when it hits theaters this Friday, September 11.