A Fall from Grace is the latest from creative genius Tyler Perry. Perry manages to pull off a fascinating crime drama that resembles a mystery of a storyline spawned from romance-crime author Nora Roberts, with hints of Agatha Christie. Alas, it’s executed much more ingeniously and modernized with a dark twist to boot, as only Perry could do.
A recently divorced and vulnerable Grace, played by a robust Crystal Fox, remarries Shannon (Mehcad Brooks), a man she thinks she knows and loves. But Shannon has some dark secrets.
After Grace, an upstanding member of the community, mysteriously confesses to killing Shannon, her tenacious public defender, played by the by Night School star Bresha Webb, decides to go the extra mile to uncover the truth.
At a recent press day, The Movie Mensch got to speak with Mehcad Brooks on showcasing his innate gifts as an actor as Shannon, Grace’s new husband, who she is accused of killing. “I think most people are complex, right?” the 40-year-old actor said of portraying the complex, two-faced character.
“We all have dualities. And I think that Shannon was just exhibited in such a way that you saw both extremities of this person.” The Supergirl star went on say that he pulled from his own life experience to channel those extremes highlighted in the film to bring authenticity to the role.
“I’ve known people like that. I’ve seen people like that,” Brooks said of cruel, manipulative, and abusive people.
“We have all seen people like that…even at the head of our government,” alluding to incessant stories of corruption within the criminal justice system.
Brooks went on to say that he really enjoyed the experience. “It was a lot of fun, as an actor. I felt horrible sometimes. But that’s what it called for.”
He then elaborated how his own life experiences with abuse helped him become a character that seems to have two-faces. “It was a modulation of the abuse I’ve seen in my life from distant family members.”
He did emphasize that there was no abuse in his immediate family, saying he was lucky enough to grow up in a “very loving home.”
“But I did see a bit with uncles, aunts, and grandparents,” he admitted.
Mehcad explain how Tyler Perry gave him the space to improvise and express his own creative take on the role. “You’re not going to get more than one or two takes. And because of that way he works, you know you have to try everything in that take.”
Brooks described Perry’s directing style, saying, “He will go back behind the monitor. Then, yell out to say something. We have this rapport where he can give something to say and I turn it into a paragraph. [There is] a lot of give and take.”
He then compared being in the presence of Perry to being in the presence of “Clint Eastwood, Oprah, and Gandhi put together. That’s the only way I can describe it. He has this aurora about him, but he’s really down to earth.”
He elaborated on the freedom Perry gives his actors, saying, “you know what he wants but you’re able to give so much more because of the space in the room he gives you.”
He went on hail Perry as his favorite director, saying he’s never worked with someone who is “so specific, yet also open to the interpretation of your ideas.”
Brooks then circled back to his comments about corruption, which plays a central role in A Fall From Grace storyline.
“For the land of the free, we have the most incarcerated people in the world,” he said. “That can’t be because we just commit more crimes. It means our criminal justice system needs to be looked at.”
“I’m all for prison reform,” he added. Brooks expanded by suggesting that the Department of Corrections “shouldn’t be the department of punishment. They should instead focus on the cause of the crime.”
Brooks then spoke out in support of Universal Basic Income as a potential solution and said that he thinks if that were to pass, we would see crime rates drop significantly. “What causes scarcity? Anytime you have scarcity and a lack of education, you’re going to have high crime,” he explained.
As far as what he has planned for the future, he says he just finished filming Mortal Kombat, which comes out next summer, and wants more roles in the thriller, action, and comedy genres in an effort to “branch out.”
“I’m a cowboy at heart, so I’m hoping to do some Westerns.” Brooks said laughing.
A Fall from Grace starts streaming on Netflix Jan 17, and it is arguably Perry’s best and most socially relevant film yet.