Tyler Perry Trades 'Madea' Wig for Handcuffs

Tyler Perry has never been afraid to crossdress on the big screen, but now the star of the hugely successful Madea franchise is dressing as Cross. Alex Cross, that is for the reboot of James Patterson's detective series, titled I, Alex Cross The movie is a much darker film project for Perry, which sees him step into the famous detective's shoes, as he tracks down a serial killer.

The Alex Cross detective role was previously played by Morgan Freeman in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. But Perry tells ETonline he didn't contact Freeman for any tips and instead just tried to focus on how he could uniquely portray the character.

The movie traces Cross and his lifelong friend/police partner Tommy Kane (played by Ed Burns) as they hunt down a serial killer played by Lost star Matthew Fox. Perry explained that he takes his role very seriously and therefore decided to avoid all off-screen contact with Fox during the filming.

Watch the video to hear more from the cast and to get a sneak peek of filming on the set of I, Alex Cross, which is set to hit theaters sometime next year.