Tyler Perry Says The Six Triple Eight Star Oprah Winfrey Is ‘Like Every Actor’ in This Relatable Way (Exclusive)

Oprah Winfrey is a boss in every sense of the word, but when she worked with Tyler Perry on his new movie Six triple eightshe said to the principal.

The former talk show host, 70, is “just like any actor,” Perry, 55, told PEOPLE at the film’s Los Angeles premiere on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

“They want to know they’re doing a great job and they want to know the director is happy. She’s no different,” says Perry. “She wanted to know that she was doing a great job, and she was doing a fantastic job.”

Six Triple Eight tells the true story of the only all-black Women’s Army Corps unit to serve in Europe in World War II.

A battalion of 855 women, led by Major Charity Adams (Kerry Washington), was given a seemingly impossible task: sorting through 17 million pieces of undelivered mail so soldiers could communicate with their families back home.

Oprah Winfrey as Mary McLeod Bethune in ‘The Six Triple Eight’ scene.

Netflix

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Winfrey plays the famous educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune, who was a friend of first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Susan Sarandon). It was their influence that prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Sam Waterston) to send women abroad on a vital mission. “No mail, low morale”, was the motto at the time.

Although Perry and Winfrey have collaborated on other projects over the years — the director has had multiple series on Winfrey’s OWN network — this film marks the first time he’s directed his friend in two decades.

Perry, who also co-wrote Six Triple Eighthe was looking for a project to present to Winfrey.

“Giving her an opportunity that she thought would be something she would embrace was something I’d been looking for for years,” Perry explains.

Tyler Perry and the cast of ‘The Six Triple Eight’.

Laura Radford / Perry Well Films 2 / Courtesy of Netflix

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“When we start talking about Mary McLeod Bethune, I think, ‘Okay, yes, Mary McLeod Bethune, that’s it.’ And for her to do it – and such a great job – is wonderful,” he adds.

In an interview with film critic Elvis Mitchell in 2022, Perry opened up about his friendship with Winfrey, whom he first met in 2001 when he was a guest on her eponymous talk show.

“I remember walking into the studio and there she was in this lavender dress, and she had shoes with silver keys on them. I will never forget it,” he said.

Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey December 3, 2024

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“I was on stage and I talked to her. It was all surreal for me and I felt like, ‘I know you. I know you so well. We are friends.’ We just met. Years later we became friends, but I knew it from that moment,” Perry said.

“Everything you see on television is who she is,” he continued. “Knowing her personally, having her as a friend, having her as a confidant, someone I can call anytime to talk about anything, has been a real treat in my life and one of the greatest blessings.”

Six triple eight premiering on Netflix on Friday. December 20.

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Source: HIS Education