Filmmaker Tyler Perry says he’s retiring the character of Madea, the tough-talking grandmother he first brought to life back in 1999.
The character first appeared in I Can Do Bad All By Myself back in 1999, and has since appeared in 10 installments, along with numerous stage shows and TV appearances.
On Bevy Smith’s Sirius XM show Bevelations (h/t Variety), Perry revealed that he wants to be done with the character for good.
Perry said the character was based on his own mother, as well as Eddie Murphy’s performance in Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.