On Tyler Perry's drama series, "The Haves and the Have Nots," actor Aaron O'Connell has to convey painful emotion in his character, Wyatt. At the end of the show's first season, Wyatt is filled with guilt and remorse after gets behind the wheel while high and kills a young girl.
In the above video, O'Connell sits down with Perry on "The Tyler Perry Show" and opens up about using the pain from a real-life tragedy to portray his character's grief on television.
"I wanted to figure out a way to get that emotion that Wyatt would have, but capture it on screen the way it should be done," O'Connell says.
"My sister had triplets -- two of them had passed away, they were born prematurely," he shares. "So I was able to kind of filter some of those emotions and really use that to fuel what I felt Wyatt feeling in that situation."
Perry tells O'Connell how sorry he is to hear that. Fortunately, O'Connell says the surviving triplet is doing well.
"I thank you for using your gift and bringing it to the show, and taking it, and being able to take all the emotion and all the sadness and leaving it on screen," Perry tells him.
"I owe it to them," O'Connell says, gesturing to the audience.
"The Haves and the Have Nots" airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET, followed by a special 3-part "The Tyler Perry Show" on OWN.