Tyler Perry chose the perfect night to visit Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The prolific director might have walked out with his next film project.
Viewers who tuned into Jimmy Kimmel’s chat with Perry on Thursday caught some fun inside jokes about a potential movie script based on two audience members—but they missed out on the whole story. The ABC talker has since released the full saga online, and it’s a moment destined for the all-time highlight reel.
As the behind-the-scenes footage reveals, the story emerged when Kimmel was conducting his usual off-air audience Q&A between segments. Zeroing in on a man and woman in the front row, Kimmel learned that they were Connecticut residents vacationing in San Diego, who’d had made a special trip to Los Angeles for the JKL taping
“Is this an annual thing, or is it just a spur-of-the-moment type of thing?” asked Kimmel.
“We both work very hard, and we haven’t had a real vacation in a while,” the woman explained, “so that’s what we’re doing.”
“This sounds like counseling or something. You don’t have to explain to me why you’re taking a vacation,” Kimmel joked, assuming the pair were a couple. With a nod to her traveling companion, he said, “Is this a message you’re sending to him?”
That’s when the woman clarified that the man beside her was not her husband, but her son-in-law. Her daughter, she revealed, was “home with the kids.
“It was her idea,” the woman added.
“First of all, I have some terrible news,” Kimmel said to the man. “[Your wife]’s cheating on you.”
Kimmel realized the “bizarre Mrs. Robinson-type scenario” was perfect fodder for his first guest of the night, filmmaker Tyler Perry. “You know what? When he comes out here, we’re gonna pitch this to him. It’s called Weird Road Trip.”
“Thanks for coming,” Kimmel told the non-couple, adding: “And we’ll be referring to you repeatedly throughout the show.”
When Perry later walked out for his interview, he remarked, “I wish the audience at home could see what happens during the commercial break here.”
“Things took an interesting turn here tonight,” Kimmel nodded. “In fact, I have a movie pitch for you. Imagine the scene….”
Perry was all ears, feigning ignorance that Kimmel’s pitch is based on the audience members’ true story. But when Kimmel revealed the conceit, Perry was quick to make a confident conclusion.
“Oh, she’s having an affair,” he announced, sending the mom and son-in-law into hysterics. After hashing out the movie idea further, Perry let the couple off the hook with some grace.
“I think it’s either [the wife/daughter] having an affair, or the mother-in-law and son are having an affair,” he began. “Or, they’re just a great family and they love each other.”
While it’s safe to assume this movie pitch will amount to nothing more than talk show banter, Perry and Kimmel have already settled on the perfect title: Tyler Perry’s The Graduate Too.
