Is it OK to hit a woman? Any self-respecting man would instantly say no, actor Rockmond Dunbar included. But in Tyler Perry’s latest film, "The Family That Preys", Dunbar’s character was pushed to the point of no return by his cheating, disrespectful wife — and he hit her. For Dunbar to display that behavior on the big screen, especially towards a black woman, was not without risks.

“It’s one of those situations you have to handle very, very delicately because you don’t know how it’s going play. You don’t know how it’s going to end up coming out,” Dunbar explains. “A black woman being hit by a black man on screen? I was scared. I didn’t know how it was going to turn out. I told myself, ‘This is not something that you want to turn out bad, so just commit to it, and hopefully, Tyler will make the right decision when it gets to the editing room,’ and he did.”

Dunbar, whose impressive résumé includes work on “Soul Food,” and “Prison Break,” used his own recent divorce to draw upon the emotions needed for this part. “I just went through that whole situation with my ex-wife,” he states. “I’m newly divorced, so I had a lot to pull from. Even the similarities of her cheating for such a long time, was something I just went through unknowingly.” - dewayne rogers

Send this Article to a Friend
facebook