Jill Scott on Why She Hated Filming the Airplane Scene in Why Did I Get Married

As Jill scott prepares to release her sixth studio album,“To Whom This May Concern (Human Re Sources/The Orchard),” she’s discussing another creative endeavor: her film work.She’s recently reflected on the 2007 Tyler Perry film “Why Did I Get Married?”—and her experience wasn’t entirely positive.

In a new interview with Angie Martinez for her “IRL” podcast, Scott shared memories of filming. While largely positive, she revealed discomfort with how her character, sheila, was treated both within the storyline and on set.

Sheila, a plus-sized woman married to the unfaithful Mike (played by Richard T. Jones), endured constant criticism about her weight.Scott explained that she didn’t appreciate the negativity directed at her character, even during filming.

Scott specifically recalled an airplane scene where Sheila is forced to drive a snowy road alone as her weight supposedly exceeded airline limits. Wearing a fat suit for the role,Scott said extras hired by Perry actively mocked her.

“I didn’t like how much peopel would make fun of her. I didn’t, I didn’t like that. I remember the scene on the plane and–the scene on the plane Tyler [Perry] had extras make fun of me when I got on the plane. They were just going back and forth, making jokes about Sheila’s weight,” she explained. “And obviously, you know, I had on a whole fat suit and it was cumbersome. So the walk was genuine and the sitting down was genuine and all the things.”

She continued: “The folks on the flight really went in on fat jokes and it sucked….I felt like it was [a little abusive]. Sorry Tyler, I hated that sh*t…sincerely hated that. They were just going at it.”

Scott mentioned she voiced her concerns to Perry “once or twice.” The experience ultimately shifted her perspective on body image.

“I decided that I am not fat, but I have some. And it made me feel better, and that’s how I decided to move through my life. Like,you’re not gonna define me as a ‘thing.’ I’m multicolor, I’m multi-dimensional,” she explained.

Despite the negative experience with the extras, Scott praised Richard T. Jones.

“Richard T. Jones is one literally one of the nicest people on the planet. And so funny and so cool. [In the movie] he was terrible. He was horrible, so mean,” Scott said.

She joked that she would “bite him and hug him” if she encountered him today.