Taraji P. Henson, Tasha Smith And Sharon Leal On Reuniting In ‘Why Did I Get Married, Again?’

When audiences last saw the couples of Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?, relationships had fractured and old wounds were still fresh. Now, Perry has gathered much of the original cast for Why Did I Get Married, Again?, bringing familiar characters back together at a different stage of their lives. This time, their children are old enough to make some complicated decisions of their own.

Angela and Marcus, played by Tasha Smith and Michael Jai White, bring everyone to Italy for the wedding of their daughter Jasmine (Armani Greer) to Wesley (Everett Osborne). The destination gives the longtime friends another reason to reunite, while their adult children force them to consider the examples they have set. For the actors, filming felt like much-needed vacation in a sense.

“It was like a family reunion with your friends, with your closest friends,” Smith tells ESSENCE during a conversation alongside Taraji P. Henson and Sharon Leal. “Honestly, it was a good time and it was a blessing. And I’m glad that we all got a chance to do this.”

Leal had an additional reason to enjoy the assignment. Fans had asked her about a third film for years, and she would jokingly tell them she wanted the next installment to take everyone to Italy. “I feel like I manifested that because I kept saying if I could wave a wand, we’d be in Italy,” she says. “And so when we got that call, I was really excited.” (Thinking Leal was being facetious, I asked if she really “manifested” filming in Lake Como. “There’s power in words,” Henson responded.)

Henson arrived as the newcomer in a cast whose chemistry dates back to the first film in 2007. She plays Roselyn, a successful businesswoman whose son Wesley is marrying Angela and Marcus’ daughter. Within the story, Roselyn has known the friend circle for years even though audiences are meeting her for the first time.

Joining an established ensemble presented Henson with a delicate assignment. She already knew how strongly viewers felt about the franchise because she was one of them. “I’m a fan,” Henson said. “I am a fan of the franchise. So I know how coveted this cast is, this story, how much it means to the culture. So I was a little nervous when I got the call to join the cast.”

Part of her concern involved the absence of Janet Jackson, who played Patricia in the first two films. Henson did not want Roselyn’s arrival to suggest Perry was simply inserting another actress into Jackson’s place.

“I was nervous because Janet Jackson is not here,” she explains. “And I didn’t want the audience to feel like I was trying to replace her because you can’t replace Janet Jackson, baby. That is impossible.” Henson believes Perry avoided the problem by allowing Roselyn to arrive with her own history. Once she understood how the character fit into the story, the decision became considerably easier. As she jokes, getting paid to work with friends in Italy was not exactly a difficult proposition.

Smith had a different challenge, because Angela has been part of her professional life for nearly two decades, beginning with the films and continuing through Perry’s television series For Better or Worse. Smith and White played Angela and Marcus for six seasons, giving their famously combustible marriage far more screen time than the films alone could provide. “I missed Angela. I miss Marcus. I missed the band. I missed everything, honestly,” Smith says.

Time has changed the couple. Smith says Angela and Marcus still know how to get under each other’s skin, but their arguments no longer operate at the same temperature. “They fight different. They’re calmer,” she says. “I don’t feel like they’re as toxic as they were before.” Leal laughs before offering a small correction: “Sometimes. But better. Definitely, but moving in the right direction.”

Dianne has grown older alongside Leal as well. Instead of approaching her return as an exercise in recreating the woman audiences remember, Leal relied on Perry’s script to show where life had taken her. Parenthood has become a major part of the equation. “This movie is really hyper-focused on our children,” Leal says. “Their main focus is their kids. So we gather and it’s all about the kids. So that’s a big element and that’s what’s different about this one.”

Bringing in a younger generation also changed the energy for the returning actors. Da’Vinchi plays Marcus Jr., while Greer takes on the role of Jasmine. Laya DeLeon Hayes and Jaden Michael are among the actors filling out the next generation. Smith already had history with Da’Vinchi from BMF, where she directed him before he became her on-screen son. When Perry later called to ask about the actor, Smith immediately vouched for him.

“I was like, ‘Da’Vinchi, that’s my baby,’” she recalls. “So when he got a chance to be my son, I was so excited.” Henson enjoyed watching the younger actors experience a production of this scale, especially because several were making their feature-film debuts overseas. “It’s cool to see young people,” Henson says. “This was their first feature and I kept telling them how blessed they were to be the first feature and you’re filming outside of the country.”

The returning cast has history the newcomers cannot replicate, but the younger actors bring something the veterans cannot manufacture: the excitement of doing all of this for the first time. Put both generations together in Italy, and Perry has found a new way into a question his characters have been asking for nearly 20 years.

Only now, their kids might have some answers of their own.

Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married, Again? is now streaming exclusively on Netflix.