Tyler Perry Explains How 'For Colored Girls,' His Latest Film, Chose Him (VIDEO)

According to Tyler Perry, he didn't choose his first R-rated film as a director. Instead, the film wound up choosing him. As he explained it to the women of 'The View' (Weekdays, Syndicated on ABC), their own Whoopi Goldberg, who is also one of the film's stars, was the first to bring it to his attention, but he turned down involvement in the play's production.

Later, when it was being developed as a film he was approached again, and again he rejected it, but when it came back a third time, "I had to face my fears and just jump into it," he explained.

The film is 'For Colored Girls,' and is based on the 1975 play 'For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf' by Ntozake Shange. The play was structured as a series of connected poems and didn't back down from such harsh and controversial subject matter as rape, abortion and domestic violence.

It marks a dramatic departure for the actor-director best known for his 'Madea' movies and light sitcom fare like 'House of Payne' and 'Are We There Yet?' Perry has always had an affinity for strong African-American women in his works, and 'For Colored Girls' is almost exclusively that.

As co-host Joy Behar pointed out, "Most of the men in the movie are not sympathetic. There's only the one man that's sympathetic, the cop." The rest of the men in the film were described as bad guys, and she asked if Perry thought that might offend men.

While Perry said he was committed to staying true to Ntozake's words, he admitted that this was the most controversial aspect of the material. It was controversial in 1975 and was likely to be the same now. He added the sympathetic character of the cop because "as a man I just could not let people think that every black man is this terrible."

The cast also spent some time talking about Whoopi Goldberg's experiences back on a film set after more than a decade away. She was worried about forgetting her lines, but Perry revealed that when she was done, she got a standing ovation from the crew. Looks like Goldberg still has it.

'For Colored Girls' is slated for release nationwide in theaters on November 5, 2010.