Tyler Perry took a little time out of his hectic schedule to speak to Architectural Digest about one of his biggest passions and hidden careers, being a builder.

“At heart, I’m a frustrated builder,” says Perry. “I think I would have been an architect if I hadn’t gone into entertainment.”

It only stands to reason that the multi-hyphenate creator doesn’t stop at producer-director-writer-actor, but could add builder and developer to that potpourri without batting an eye. Anyone who has toured or had the advantage of working at the state-of-the-art Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta comes away with an overwhelming feeling of having visited a rapidly developing metropolis.

“Most production companies use soundstages,” says Paul Wonsek, who’s been Perry’s go-to production designer for the last eight years and worked on most of the studio buildings. “But Tyler builds real architectural structures for shooting. Nobody else works this way.”

That means when it came to the backdrop for his new hit show The Oval nothing short of an 80% scale White House would fit the bill. What is even more impressive is the fact that Perry’s version of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was erected in just 12 weeks!

Discover what else Perry has planned for the studio in his interview here.