If there is one thing the Madea universe guarantees, it is that peace and quiet are rarely on the itinerary, especially when Uncle Joe is behind the wheel. Following the massive success of Madea’s Destination Wedding, Tyler Perry is back, but this time he’s keeping Mable Simmons at bay and letting his crasser, curmudgeonly alter-ego take center stage in Tyler Perry’s Joe’s College Road Trip.
Streaming now on Netflix, the film offers a raucous, R-rated look at the generational divide between the “old school” grit of Joe and the sheltered, high-tech world of his grandson, B.J.. Played by the talented Jermaine Harris, B.J. is the quintessential Gen Z foil: book-smart and privileged, yet blissfully disconnected from the cultural history that paved his way.
In an effort to “toughen him up” and teach him what it really means to be Black in America, Joe is bribed to take B.J. to visit a college, turning a simple tour into a chaotic cross-country lesson in resilience, history, and family bonds.
We sat down with Jermaine Harris to discuss his evolution from a supporting player in the Madea universe to sharing the marquee with Perry himself. In this exclusive conversation, Harris opens up about the challenges of playing a character who “internalizes everything,” the hilarity of filming unscripted chaos with Uncle Joe, and the deeper responsibility of bridging the gap between generations.
[Interview has been edited for length and clarity]
The Quintessential Gentleman: Our first introduction to BJ was in Madea’s Destination Wedding. How did you get to this role?
Jermaine Harris: Oh man, I had auditioned for it first. When I got the audition, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I had already had this character planned out. I saw him in my head and then I knocked it out.
I remember it was over a weekend. I turned it in maybe on a Thursday, and it was supposed to be due that Friday. My team called me, I think on Saturday, like, “Yeah, they loved you.” I was like, “Oh, cool. Awesome. Tyler thought you were hilarious. Oh, that’s awesome.”
Then Monday came around and they were like, “Yeah, so we didn’t tell you that they had actually already offered you the role that day from your tape. We just wanted to wait it out.” I’m like, “Why would you do that? I would have been just fine!” But that’s how they let me know. They told me that he really enjoyed my portrayal of the character and they offered me the role.
QG: While filming Madea’s Destination Wedding, did you know that this [project] was down the pipeline while you were filming?
Harris: Yeah, I did. When I originally got it, they told me that he liked me so much he also had another project for me. And I was like, “Oh, that’s cool.” I didn’t think this was going to be a separate one. I just knew that they really enjoyed what I brought to the character, and I thought it was a blessing to have essentially two projects from one audition. But yeah, they told me that he’s gonna have a whole thing with Joe. Because when I was in the audition, I thought it was just a cool look. But when they told me the plans for Joe’ds, I was like, “Oh, okay. I see the vision and I’m down for the ride”.
QG: When you first read the script, was your first impression just, “Let’s go”?
Harris: Yes, I was a million percent down for it. And I was like, man, we’ve never seen anything like this within the Madea universe. It’s rated R, clear as day, and when I was reading it, I’m like, man, it just feels like something is always happening. But not to where it’s beating you over the head with it. Everything that was happening was intentional. It was a super fun read. I was like, this is going to play so well when you watch it.
QG: Talk to us about your character, BJ. Is that character someone that you know personally?
Harris: BJ represents some of Gen Z. The part of the generation that feels a lot, that is extremely sympathetic and also internalizes a lot of things. But he also represents the downside of our generation as well, where it can kind of hurt us from truly understanding that people have different opinions on things and that’s okay.
He represents the type of person within our own community who can be extremely smart and privileged. But within that privilege, it also hurts them from understanding truly what it took to even be there. They grow up knowing, “Okay, well, this is normal,” but this isn’t everybody’s normal, especially within our community. That essentially can put a blinder on them regarding the cultural significance of the things that have come before us.
For him, he’s almost an amalgamation of certain people within my life. I can’t say exactly one person, but certain things about him I brought to the character from friends. I’m like, “Yeah, I’m going to use this.”
QG: Outside of the crassness and comedy, there are underlying conversations about being Black and proud. Was there anything that you learned about yourself or just generally from being in this film?
Harris: You know how growing up, you read about certain things that happened in history, and you hear the older generations or “old heads” say, “Well that wasn’t that long ago,” and you’re like, “No, it was a minute ago.”
Being in this character and going through this arc with Tyler… having that opportunity to go to certain places and see certain things in person, I’m like, “Oh. Oh, wow, no, they were here. Like, these people were here at one point.” It taught me a whole lot of understanding, like, man, this stuff really wasn’t that long ago. Even certain things my mom had to go through. And it really shows the progress that we have made since then. Mind you, there’s still more that is going to be done.
But I know the people that are before me, they [are] only around the corner for real. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore it. We can draw from that and use that to continue moving forward because we can acknowledge the stuff that’s happened before us.
QG: Were there any moments during filming where you just couldn’t keep it together?
Harris: The bar. That scene. Oh, and the aftermath for the bar. That scene was crazy. But also the layers within that scene of what’s going on, and how it keeps amping up. Every moment isn’t wasted, I believe. Everything has its reason. It has its intention behind it. But with that scene, it was really hard.
QG: On a road trip, who are three movie stars that you would like to go cross country with?
Harris: Easy. Eddie Murphy. Martin Lawrence. And Will Smith. Easiest question in the world for me. I might interchange Will for The Rock too. But maybe Will because he’ll take up less space.
Photo Credit: Netflix
