“Why Did I Get Married Again?” Star Michael Jai White Says The Film Changed How He Parents: ‘We Need To Have These Conversations’

“Why Did I Get Married Again?” Star Michael Jai White Says The Film Changed How He Parents:
‘We Need To Have These Conversations’

Nearly 20 years after audiences first met Marcus and Angela, Michael Jai White says returning for Tyler Perry’s “Why Did I Get Married Again?” came with a perspective the cast simply did not have in 2007.

“We’re all older,” White joked during a BlackTree TV interview. “We actually got gray hair.”

White said marriage, children and other life experiences helped the returning cast bring more depth to their characters.

“This life experience goes into our character,” he explained. “You got to live life in order to interpret it.”

That growth is especially important for Marcus, whom White described as “very insecure” despite his humor and fiery relationship with Tasha Smith’s Angela. White said showing those layers in Black men remains meaningful.

“We’re layered in real life,” he said. “You don’t usually see it, but actually that’s the way we really are. So, it’s just refreshing to be able to do it on camera.”

The Netflix sequel also explores how the couples’ now-grown children have been shaped by their parents. White admitted the storyline affected his own relationship with his children.

“This movie actually changed certain things about my life and my sons and my daughters,” he shared. “We need to have these conversations.”

The film reunites Smith, Jill Scott, Sharon Leal, Lamman Rucker, Richard T. Jones and Perry, while Taraji P. Henson joins the franchise. Henson previously revealed filming lasted only four days, which Smith called “refined insanity.”

Perry has also said he plans on “pulling back a whole lot” professionally.

For White, however, the story reaches beyond one community.

“This is universal,” he said. “We didn’t have to be Black in this. The subject matter—all the audience doesn’t need to be either.”

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