Before he became a Hollywood mogul, Tyler Perry endured a childhood that he says was wrought with violence. Physically abused by his father and sexually molested by other adults, Tyler was able to transcend his horrific childhood by writing stories -- and now, he lives in a Beverly Hills mansion on a mountaintop. But, Tyler says, that's not the way his life was supposed to turn out.
In this clip from Tyler's appearance on "Oprah's Next Chapter," the one-man-entertainment machine confesses that his traumatic childhood and boyhood struggles should have set him down a very different path, a path that many young people have followed after experiencing the same injustices Tyler did.
"Statistics say that I'm supposed to be in jail," Tyler says matter-of-factly. "And I'm not supposed to be alive."
It may be hard to imagine now, given Tyler's success, but even when he was a young boy, Tyler lived with a sense of foreboding. "Even growing up, I thought I'd never live to see 30," he shares with Oprah. "Just did not believe that I would see 30 years old... Everything around me said that [wasn't] supposed to happen."
So, why did it?
In the video, 43-year-old Tyler also reveals how he was able to defy the odds to become a success story, rising above his past and creating a life he'd never dreamed possible.
Watch more of Tyler Perry's interview on "Oprah's Next Chapter", airing Sunday, May 26, at 9 p.m. ET on OWN.
Related
Before You Go
