When Tyler Perry decided to retire his hilarious Madea character, the director, writer and producer made sure to personally call his co-stars including his good friend Cassi Davis, who plays Madea’s close friend Betty Ann “Aunt Bam” Murphy in his stage plays.

Davis tells ABC Audio that when Perry called to tell her the news, she was “excited” for his next chapter in life.

“He had that conversation with me and because he has placed Madea so high…I am excited for him,” Davis says. “If he wants to stop and do something different and… something new, I applaud him for allowing me to share the stage with him thus far.”

“‘What a wonderful way to go out,” Davis continues, remembering her call with Perry. “This is so wonderful! Madea has touched so many lives. I mean, generation after generation after generation.”

However, with a bright future in store for Perry, Davis jokes she’s now concerned for her own.

“‘Wait a minute. If Madea goes away, then there is no more Aunt Bam,'” she recalls saying. “I was like, ‘Are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure??'”

Thankfully, fans can officially relive those “fun” moments between Bam and Madea now that Perry’s final stage play, Madea’s Farewell Play Tour, is officially available on BET+. Davis says that after playing Bam for so many years, she realizes she will “eventually” become her kooky character that is a “combination of [her] mom and those iconic women who’ve really been influential in [her] life. 

“And I think she’s just known in the community…how when you grow up and you have these wonderful people,” she says of Bam. “So, Aunt Bam is really an ode to the matriarchs that just breathed life into me.”

By Candice Williams
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