Production Notes
For additional publicity materials and artwork, please visit:
http://lionsgatepublicity.com/epk/peeples
www.lionsgatepublicity.com
Rating: PG-13 for some violence, sexuality, and drug content
Run time: 95 minutes
Official Site: http://www.peeplesmovie.com
Facebook: www.fb.com/peeplesthemovie
Twitter: #PeeplesPerson
For more information, please contact:
Jennifer Lopez Kimberly Ehlmann
Lionsgate Lionsgate
2700 Colorado Avenue 2700 Colorado Avenue
Suite 200 Suite 200
Santa Monica, CA 90404 Santa Monica, CA 90404
P: 310-255-3879 P: 310-255-5086
E: E:
Cast (Character): Craig Robinson (Wade Walker)
Kerry Washington (Grace Peeples)
David Alan Grier (Virgil Peeples)
S. Epatha Merkerson (Daphne Peeples)
Tyler James Williams (Simon Peeples)
with Melvin Van Peebles (Grandpa Peeples)
and Diahann Carroll (Nana Peeples)
Malcolm Barrett (Chris Walker)
Kali Hawk (Gloria Peeples)
Ana Gasteyer (Mayor Hodge)
Kimrie Lewis-Davis (Meg)
Written and Directed by: Tina Gordon Chism
Produced by: Tyler Perry
Produced by: Stephanie Allain
Produced by: Paul Hall
Produced by: Ozzie Areu
Produced by: Matt Moore
Executive Producer: Michael Paseornek
Executive Producer: Preston Holmes
Executive Producers: Charles S. Dutton, Sherry Marsh
Director of Photography: Alexander Gruszynski, ASC
Production Designer: Rick Butler
Film Editor: David Moritz
Costume Designer: Paul Simmons
Music by: Aaron Zigman
Music Supervisor: Joel C. High
Executive Music Producer: Stephen Bray
Co-Producer: H.H. Cooper
Casting by: Kim Taylor-Coleman, CSA
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Tyler Perry Presents Peeples focuses on that dreaded, anxiety-filled rite of passage that just about anyone in a long-term relationship has to face: winning over the in-laws. Lionsgate’s and 34th Street Film’s winning comedy tells the story of Wade Walker and Grace Peeples, a happily cohabitating couple who are deeply in love, except for one catch: after one year together, Grace still hasn’t introduced Wade to her discerning, upper-crust family. Taking matters into his own hands, Wade decides to crash Grace’s family reunion. But his master plan to charm the Peeples and propose to Grace goes hilariously off the rails when he finds himself surrounded by a clan of dysfunctional over-achievers who will do anything to keep up appearances.
Written and directed by Tina Gordon Chism, Peeples marks the latest film from Tyler Perry’s specialty production company, 34th Street Films, which is one of the production companies responsible for the Perry-directed, For Colored Girls. For Perry, the decision to support Peeples was an easy one. He was already a fan of Chism’s writing – she wrote the screenplays for the acclaimed features Drumline and ATL – and Chism’s producing partner, Stephanie Allain, had made her name bringing smart films like Hustle and Flow and Something New to the screen. “It made sense to me,” says Perry. “Tina is a great writer, and her style is sophisticated but still really accessible. I wanted to give her the opportunity to write and direct her own movie. I know what that feels like. So if I could use 34th Street to give her a platform to do some great things, then I wanted to be in.”
“A lot of times the writer is shut out of the filmmaking process,” Chism explains. “And with this, because it was a comedy, because I wanted the jokes to play in a specific way, it was very hard for me to let it go. I had a really clear idea of what I wanted things to look like. I’m so grateful that I got the opportunity to see it through.”
Peeples producer Ozzie Areu, who is also President of Tyler Perry Studios, was attracted to Chism’s fresh take on a universal family story, “It’s a modern day film that isn’t afraid of tackling challenging themes, and it’s packed with highly engaging and bold characters.”
While Peeples is a comedy first and foremost, the film exposes how we hide who we really are out of fear that others won't love us. “Everyone in this movie has a secret,” says actress Kerry Washington, who stars as Grace Peeples. “It takes Wade coming into the fold for this house of cards to really fall apart.”
“What I love about this film,” adds actor Craig Robinson, who plays Wade, “is that you have all the big laughs, the big set pieces, of a hit comedy. But Tina also wrote great characters. They all feel so real, and it makes the comedy pop.”
From her earliest days writing the script, Chism had imagined Kerry Washington in the role of Grace Peeples, even though the highly regarded actress is known primarily for her dramatic work on the current ABC series, “Scandal,” and hard-hitting features like Mother and Child and For Colored Girls. “Kerry was in my mind from the moment I wrote Grace Peeples,” says Chism. “She’s super smart, and she’s comedic and strong in this delicious Katherine Hepburn way.”
To Chism’s delight, Washington immediately responded to the role and to the opportunity to try her hand at comedy. “This film came along at a time when I really needed it,” explains Washington. “I’d been doing material that was very heavy and this was the ideal way to stretch out and have fun.”
An ambitious, Type-A career woman from an upper-class family, Grace Peeples is strong, opinionated, and holds down a coveted job practicing law at the United Nations. Yet despite these accomplishments, she’s still too frightened to introduce her boyfriend, Wade – a happy-go-lucky children’s entertainer – to her judgmental family. “Wade doesn’t quite fit the mold of where she comes from,” says Washington. “She just doesn’t know how to bring the two together. And she’s terrified to do so. So in a typical Grace Peeples, strategic way of thinking, she decides to avoid having them meet and just pretend the problem doesn’t exist.”
Grace leaves Wade behind for an annual family reunion at her parents’ home in tony Sag Harbor, NY; but Wade, dead set on meeting the Peeples, arrives unannounced at the Peeples’ eight-bedroom, seaside mansion, completely unprepared for the showdown that awaits. Rising comedy star Craig Robinson, who gained notice for standout supporting performances on NBC’s “The Office” and in features like Hot Tub Time Machine, effortlessly assumes the role of comic leading man. “Playing Wade has definitively given me some time to play on screen,” says Robinson. “Wade gets to do some silly things, but he’s also very vulnerable in this film and gets to show his tender side.”
“I can’t imagine another actor in this role,” affirms Washington. “Craig is so sensitive and warm and emotionally available and also just drop dead hilarious. I learned so much from him.”
Together on screen, the two actors create a winning odd couple so full of love and mutual acceptance that audiences can’t help but cheer them on. Says Washington, “Tina wrote this very charming, very true-to-life, wonderful couple. They both love each other’s quirks, the creative and eccentric parts of each other’s personalities.”
Adds producer Stephanie Allain, “Grace is very sophisticated and wound tight and Wade has this genuine, lovable teddy bear-ness, and their personalities are great together. Kerry and Craig really make the audience believe in their love.”
Unfortunately, Grace’s and Wade’s continuing happiness faces one giant hurdle: Grace’s father, Virgil Peeples, a stuffy, high-minded federal judge who keeps his entire family in thrall to his own high standards. “Virgil is based on a real man,” reveals Chism. “I won’t say who, but he’s a well known African American public figure who said some inappropriate things about a date I brought to a dinner party. And that’s who inspired Virgil. I remember thinking then, he would be the worst Dad to have to introduce a boyfriend to.”
“Virgil is a self-made man,” says veteran actor David Alan Grier (“In Living Color,” “DAG,” “My Wife and Kids”) of his character. “He’s incredibly successful and distinguished and Grace is his eldest and favorite daughter. She looks to him for approval and nothing she does in her eyes is ever enough.”
Virgil, above all, prizes cultural and intellectual pursuits, and he insists that his family come together annually to celebrate Moby Dick Day, a holiday in Sag Harbor that celebrates the town’s ties to the American literary classic, “Moby Dick.” Wade’s attempts to ingratiate himself with the Peeples’ celebration hilariously backfires, setting off a competitive showdown with Virgil that culminates in a face-off in a Native American sweat lodge.”
“Judge Peeples is all about tradition and keeping his flock in line,” says Craig Robinson. “He's a control freak, and the sweat lodge is all about manhood. It’s a trial of manhood just to be able to sit there and take the heat.”
Known to audiences for over twenty years of work on the television mainstay, “Law and Order,” actress S. Epatha Merkerson finally gets to cut loose in the role of Daphne Peeples, Grace’s mother. “I’m never seen for comedy, so I had a blast,” reports Merkerson. “It requires a different focus altogether as an actor. Daphne is zany and wild and emotional. She was a singer back in her youth and a one-hit wonder, and she misses that life terribly. So now she drowns her sorrows in these herbal smoothies that have a bit more of a kick than anyone expected.”
“Epatha is completely uninhibited,” says producer Paul Hall. “She will have you on the floor. She’s absolutely crazy. She's sexy. They say that in most comedians there’s a dramatic actor. Well, in her case there’s a comedian busting out of the dramatic actor.”
Just like her older sister Grace, the younger Peeples sister, Gloria, is highly driven. A news anchor for CNN, Gloria also harbors a big secret: her “best friend” Meg, who she’s brought home to family gatherings for nine years now, is really her longtime girlfriend. That no one in the family has questioned this relationship is testament to how committed the Peeples are to appearances. “Gloria is so desperate for her father’s approval that it’s actually driven her to become successful in the public eye,” says actress Kali Hawk. But for all of Gloria’s public announcements as a news anchor, “she’s hoping that this weekend she manages to get away with not saying anything at all.”
Hawk caught Chism’s attention for her performance in the comedic feature, Couples Retreat, but it was her audition tape that won her the part. “Kali is an amazing improviser,” reveals Chism. “Her tape was so quirky and awesome that I knew I had to have her. She’s a joy. It’s breathtaking the range of characters that she can create.”
As played by actress Kimrie Lewis-Davis, Gloria’s camerawoman girlfriend, Meg, is “everything that Gloria doesn't allow herself to be.” Where Gloria is controlled and almost prim, Meg is grounded and strong. “Meg is the only character who's fully in her boots,” explains Lewis-Davis. “She really knows who she is. She doesn't have a secret. And her whole agenda during this weekend is to get Gloria to come out after nine years of hiding. Meg wants to express their love freely.”
The remaining Peeples sibling is sixteen-year-old Simon, the young, “change-of-life” baby who’s a budding genius, but deeply confused about how to relate to girls in a normal way. “Simon is a robotics champion. He makes his own music. But he has issues,” says actor Tyler James Williams (“Everybody Hates Chris”). “There are moments when he blows up because he really resents his father. And he’s also a bit of a kleptomaniac. He likes to steal things and impress girls with anything he can show off.”
“Tyler’s already done years and years of comedy on television and in films, so it was exciting for me to be learning from somebody who’s so young and bright and generous,” says Kerry Washington. “He was a joy to work with.”
Adds Chism, “I told everyone on set, ‘Follow Tyler, he's a pro.’ From the moment I met him he was prepared. He's just a very special guy and he delivered beyond my expectations.”
While Wade’s unexpected visit throws a wrench in the Peeples’ family reunion, things get even more complicated when Wade’s brother, Chris, arrives unannounced. A charming lothario, Chris genuinely wants to help his brother, but he repeatedly manages only to make things worse. “Chris is the devil and the angel on Wade’s shoulder at the same time,” explains actor Malcolm Barrett. “He’s a charming liar, and he’s reckless. Wade is thoughtful and trying to plan out things, but Chris is more like, ‘Let’s have fun. Let's do this and meet the ladies.’ He definitely leaps before he looks.”
“Malcolm Barrett and his character, Chris, have a lot in common,” laughs Chism. “They’re both mischievous and charismatic and charming. And funny all the time. As soon as I saw Malcolm, I knew he’d make a perfect brother to Craig Robinson. They have a great chemistry.”
Rounding out the cast in the roles of Grandpa and Nana Peebles – Virgil’s parents – are two pioneering actors and living legends, Melvin Van Peebles and Diahann Carroll. Van Peebles became known as the writer and director of such seminal films as Watermelon Man and Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song before adding the roles of composer and actor to his resumé; Carroll, after establishing herself in musical theater (she was the first African American actress to win a Tony Award®), went on to receive an Academy Award® nomination for Best Actress for Claudine, and later became the first African American actress to star in her own television series, “Julia.” Widely respected for their bodies of work, the two actors are admired for paving the way for subsequent generations of African American actors, and their achievements were not lost on the cast and crew of Peeples. S. Epatha Merkerson remembers riding the cast bus to the first day of rehearsal when Diahann Carroll stood up and made an announcement. “She said how thankful she was to be there and how proud she was of all of us who were young and black and making our movies, and taking it to the next level,” recalls Merkerson. “I can’t tell you how impactful that was for all of us.”