Like Frank Sinatra so famously sang back in his heyday, writer/director/actor/filmmaker Tyler Perry isn't afraid to navigate the tricky waters of Hollywood his way.

Before his successful film debut of Diary of a Mad Black Woman back in 2005, Tyler had already been building a considerable grassroots following for the better part of a decade. While traveling for 300 performances of his plays that introduced the over-the-top antics of Madea to the masses, Perry was figuring out what appealed to his very diverse audience.

Surprisingly enough, he discovered there was a considerable contingency of people (especially African Americans) who went to church and the movie theater—a market Hollywood had yet to reach, but he hoped to.

"When people see the name Tyler Perry, I wanted them to associate it with good, faith, family and God kind of things, and it's really been spreading like wildfire over the years," Perry says. "People keep asking me when I'm going to ‘cross over.' But I always felt if I just stay true and tell the stories I've been telling that audiences would continue to find it and grow."

And grow it has. Just like last year, Perry earned $75 million for his work, which put him in the company of Hollywood's elite including director George Lucas and even Dr. Phil. But despite his enormous popularity and career accolades, the actors who worked with Perry on his latest flick, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, insist that fame and fortune haven't changed him one little bit.

"Considering the kind of success he's had, he still manages to be one of the most down-to-earth people in this industry. That not only made working together great, but we've developed a friendship as well," says Adam Rodriguez (CSI: Miami), who portrays one of I Can Do Bad All By Myself's key characters, Sandino. "I think his movies speak to people because he's able to maintain that level of humility in the midst of success. He gets what things are really about and carries that same message to his audience."

Madea Strikes Again

With I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Madea makes her sixth appearance in one of Perry's plays-turned-feature-film.

While many of his Perry's characters ultimately find redemption at the end of the story, Perry says that Madea doesn't have "any spiritual life."

"In the movie, Madea tries teaching the Bible to a young kid, and really, it's the worst thing you'd ever want to hear," Perry says with a chuckle. "She talks about Noah at the St. Louis Arch picking up Peter because he was drowning. He was drowning because he got distracted when walking on the water with Jesus because he spotted Jonah in the belly of the whale. So yeah, that's what she knows about the Bible."