Tyler Perry has paid an emotional tribute to the importance of family in footage from his appearance on Oprah’s Master Class tonight.
The media mogul opened up about his relationships with both his mother and son as he spoke about his journey from suffering abuse as a child to struggling playwright to becoming a film and TV legend.
Speaking about his son Aman, of whom Oprah Winfrey is a godmother, Tyler told how his birth in November 2014 taught him to love like he had never loved before, and gave him a newfound perspective on the world and other people.
He said: “All of my fears are based around my son and what this world when I’m no longer around for him.
“I want to be there to protect him in every move, in every turn. I want to catch him before he falls. I want to protect him from his first love and first heartbreak, and things I know I can’t — that he’ll have to endure.
“Because I want him to have just enough pain to make him be an amazing human being, but not so much that it destroys and breaks his spirit.
“And I’m scared every day, because I want to get it right. You get one shot to really do it right.
“I didn’t know what to expect but I can assure you that I’ve never loved like this in my life. I have never known this kind of worry and concern for the world that he’s in.
“I’ve never known this kind of compassion for other humans, and I’m a pretty compassionate person.”
Tyler also paid tribute to his mother and how her love for him — along with God — helped guide him and support him through his life.
And despite all the people that he has entertained through his career, it was seeing his mother smile and laugh that he most cherishes.
He said: “I always knew that there was something…that I had an ability to make people laugh, and feel good.
“But I tell you what, though, the most important for me was my mother — that I could be a source of joy for her, that I could make her smile.
“That I could make her laugh, that I could tell a joke or that I could dance and I could see her smile. Yeah, to see her smile and laugh, those were…that’s what meant the world to me.”
Oprah’s Master Class airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on OWN.