Tyler Perry Takes Netflix to Church With ‘The Gospel of Christmas’
Fantasia and Tank lead a holiday drama stacked with gospel royalty, with music produced by Kirk Franklin. The film premieres Nov. 11.
By EEW Magazine Online Entertainment Editors
Yolanda Adams as Gloria, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Fantasia Barrino as Rebecca, Lauren Chanel as Imani and CeCe Winans as Mrs. Johnson in “Tyler Perry’s The Gospel of Christmas.” (Photo Credit: Jay Johnson)
Tyler Perry is spending this Christmas in church, and he is bringing a choir loft full of gospel legends with him. Netflix has released first-look images from “Tyler Perry’s The Gospel of Christmas,” a faith-centered holiday drama starring Fantasia Barrino and Durrell “Tank” Babbs, with music produced by Kirk Franklin.
The film premieres Nov. 11 on the streamer.
Tank plays Isaac Jefferson, a pastor who inherits his family’s church in a troubled New York neighborhood. Barrino plays his wife, Rebecca. According to Netflix’s official synopsis, Isaac “battles doubt, temptation, and a sinister adversary” and “must rediscover his faith and the power of prayer to save his church, his family, and his community.”
Tank as Isaac in “Tyler Perry’s The Gospel of Christmas.” (Photo Credit: Jay Johnson)
Perry announced the film on social media Oct. 9. “I have taken y’all to a family reunion, on a college road trip, to prison,” he wrote, adding, “now come on go with me to church!!!”
The supporting cast draws from the front ranks of gospel music. CeCe Winans plays Mrs. Johnson, Yolanda Adams plays Gloria and Pastor Shirley Caesar plays May. Fred Hammond and Ann Nesby appear as Abraham and Sarah, Smokie Norful as Peter, Hezekiah Walker as Matthew and Jekalyn Carr as Lilly.
All four Clark Sisters appear: Jacky Clark Chisholm as Bella, Twinkie Clark as Aunt Susan, Dorinda Clark as Aunt Pearl and Karen Clark Sheard as Aunt Lynn. Chanté Moore plays Juanita Sherman, and Vanessa Bell Armstrong appears as a choir member.
Le’Andria Johnson, Ricco Ross, Lauren Chanel, Mason Douglas and Eric Wiltz round out the ensemble, along with Pastor John Gray and former Hillsong NYC pastor Carl Lentz.
Tank as Isaac and Fantasia Barrino as Rebecca in “Tyler Perry’s The Gospel of Christmas.”
Many of the character names come straight from Scripture, from Isaac and Rebecca at the center of the story to Abraham, Sarah, Peter and Matthew.
Perry told Netflix the project began with music. “The vision for The Gospel of Christmas started with me listening to the songs that inspired me, that got me through some really, really rough times,” he said. Franklin produced a soundtrack that mixes contemporary and classic songs across gospel, rap and holiday music, according to Netflix.
For Barrino, the film is a reunion with a filmmaker she has called a mentor since the early years of her career. It is also her latest major screen role following her portrayal of Celie in the 2023 musical adaptation of “The Color Purple,” a performance that earned her the 2024 NAACP Image Award for outstanding actress in a motion picture. She told Essence the Christmas setting carried personal weight because her late grandmother’s birthday fell on Dec. 25. “And just in honor of my grandmother on her birthday, I knew this was the role for me,” she said.
Fantasia Barrino as Rebecca in “Tyler Perry’s The Gospel of Christmas.” (Photo Credit: Jay Johnson)
Tank, who stars in Hulu’s “Reasonable Doubt,” has known Perry since 2006. He told Essence the script tracked so closely with his own upbringing in the church that he pointed it out to Perry directly. “He didn’t realize that he was writing exactly who I am versus just writing a story,” Tank said. “I was like, ‘Bro, you have no idea that this is me.’”
The five-time Grammy nominee said the film’s focus on the Black church and the importance of prayer sets it apart from other holiday movies. He hopes audiences leave with “the meaning of it all in terms of what Christmas really means.”
The film is Perry’s first holiday title for Netflix, where he signed a multi-year first-look film deal in 2023, and it lands in an unusually busy stretch. He released “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Again?” in September and “Doing Life” on Oct. 2. Netflix has also announced his upcoming thriller “Confabulation,” starring Lucien Laviscount, Taylour Paige and Shamier Anderson.
Jekalyn Carr as Lilly, Ann Nesby as Sarah and Smokie Norful as Peter in “Tyler Perry’s The Gospel of Christmas.” (Photo Credit: Jay Johnson)
That output comes as Perry prepares to scale back. During a September appearance on NBC’s “Today with Jenna & Sheinelle,” the 57-year-old filmmaker discussed plans to move to Puerto Rico in early 2027 and reduce his workload to spend more time with his 11-year-old son, Aman. “It’s time to slow down a bit, enjoy more time with my son and just take it all in,” he said.
“The Gospel of Christmas” is the second of three Netflix holiday films arriving in consecutive weeks. It follows “A Dog’s Perfect Christmas” on Nov. 4 and precedes “Guarding Stars,” starring Leighton Meester and Jared Padalecki, on Nov. 18, according to What’s on Netflix.
Perry wrote and directed the film and produced it with Angi Bones and Tony L. Strickland. It is rated TV-PG.
Perry said the gospel casting was central from the start. “It was really important to me to have some of the most incredible gospel artists there are on the planet be a part of helping me tell the story,” he said. “If you know gospel, you know these people, and if you don’t know gospel, just wait until you see this movie.”