Tyler Perry Says “The Six Triple Eight ”Star Oprah Winfrey Is ‘Like Every Actor’ in This Relatable Way (Exclusive)

Oprah Winfrey is a boss in every sense of the word, but when she worked with Tyler Perry on his new movie The Six Triple Eight, she deferred to the director.

The former talk show host, 70, is “like every actor,” Perry, 55, tells PEOPLE at the Los Angeles premiere of the film on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

“They want to know that they're doing a great job and they want to know that the director's happy. She’s no different,” Perry says. “She wanted to know that she was doing a great job, and she did fantastic.”

The Six Triple Eight tells the true story of the only all-Black unit of the Women’s Army Corp to serve in Europe in World War II.

The battalion of 855 women, led by the no-nonsense Major Charity Adams (Kerry Washington), were given a seemingly impossible task: Sort through 17 million pieces of undelivered mail, so the soldiers could communicate with their families back home.

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Winfrey plays famed educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune, who was friends with first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Susan Sarandon). It was their influence that spurred President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Sam Waterston) to have the women sent overseas for the vital mission. “No mail, low morale,” was the motto at the time.

Though Perry and Winfrey have collaborated on other projects over the years — the director has had multiple series on Winfrey’s OWN network — this film marks the first time he has directed his friend of two decades.

Perry, who also co-wrote The Six Triple Eight, had been searching for a project he could present to Winfrey.

“Bringing her an opportunity that she thought would be something that she would lean into was something that I've been looking for for years,” Perry explains.

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“When we start talking about Mary McLeod Bethune, I'm thinking, ‘Okay, yes, Mary McLeod Bethune it is.’ And for her to do it —  and do such a great job — is wonderful,” he adds.

In a 2022 interview with film critic Elvis Mitchell, Perry opened up about his friendship with Winfrey, whom he first met in 2001 when he was a guest on her eponymous talk show.

“I remember walking into the studio and there she was in this lavender dress, and she had these shoes that had silver keys on. I'll never forget it,” he said.

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“I was onstage talking to her. It was all surreal for me, and I felt very much like, ‘I know you. I know you so well. We're friends.’ We had just met. It was years later that we actually became friends, but from that moment I knew it,” Perry said.

“Everything you see on television is who she is,” he continued. “To know her personally, to have her as a friend, to have her as a confidant, somebody I can call anytime to talk about anything, has been really a treat in my life and one of the greatest blessings.”

The Six Triple Eight premieres on Netflix on Friday. Dec. 20.

Read the original article on People