Janet Jackson talks about emotional roller coaster of film

When Janet Jackson signed on to be a part of "Why Did I Get Married Too?" she knew she'd have to ready herself for an emotional journey.

In the sequel to Tyler Perry's 2007 film, Jackson's character, the always-composed psychologist Patricia, slowly begins to unravel as her loveless marriage dissolves. The role required her to cry, scream and fight, challenge enough for any actress, and then her brother, Michael, died just three days into filming.

Production halted as Jackson flew to L.A. to be with her family. Director Perry followed.

"Tyler was so there for me. He was constantly calling me to see how I was doing," recalled Jackson via telephone from New York recently, where she had just completed a day of interviews for the new film, opening Friday.

"He had asked me, 'How do you want to be treated on set?' And I said, 'The way they treated me on the first film, no differently.' And that's exactly what it was. They thought it was important they didn't bring up what had happened, and that was fine with me."

That silence was uncomfortable for some of the cast in the film, which reunites eight college friends in the Bahamas for their yearly one-week reunion where they discuss love and relationships.

Despite the tough emotional work at hand, Jackson said there were lighter moments on the island set.

"There were these huge giant moths that looked like big black butterflies, and I think they freaked Tyler out," she said, laughing gently. "They'd land on your head or on your shoulder and he said they were hairy, but I thought they were gorgeous."

It was with the focus of the actors she admired that Jackson approached her latest endeavor, though she noted that experiencing such heightened emotions was often exhausting.

"You can't always let go of it; it has to let go of you," she explained.