It's not easy being a single mom and Tyler Perry and William Levy understand that firsthand -- Levy was raised by a single mom, and Perry had a tumultuous relationship with his father, and in turn his mother would be supportive and bring him to church to seek refuge.

Perry's The Single Moms Club, in which Levy will make his Hollywood debut this Friday, is Perry's ode to single moms as well as multicultural roles.

The film is based on a group of single moms from different walks of life who are brought together and develop friendships and strength from eachother along their often challenging journey. 

Named Forbes' richest person in entertainment in 2011, Perry is known for his hit movies starring himself in drag as Madea in Madea's Family Reunion, Meet the Browns, The Family That Preys, as well as several television shows, including his most successful, Tyler Perry's House of Payne.

In The Single Moms Club, in which Perry penned, produced and stars in, also includes actors: Nia Long, Amy Smart, Wendy McLendon-Covey, Ryan Eggold, Cocoa Brown, Terry Crews and Zulay Henao.

Levy, a Cuban actor and former model is heating up the big screen as he makes his Hollywood debut. In the film, Levy plays Manny, an adorable Mexican waiter who has a love affair with Esperanza, who is played by Colombian actress Zulay Henao.

We've feasted our eyes on the hunky actor who's graced the small screen with his good looks and charm on telenovelas, such as"La Tempestad, Triunfo del Amor and Cuidado con el Angel. We've also seen his moves on ABC's Dancing With the Stars, which confirmed he has impressive rhythm as well.

In Levy's case, art is imitating life as The Single Moms Club marks his U.S. film debut since he was raised by a single mother in his native Cuba.

"I grew up with my single mom and never had a dad to look up to. Fortunately or unfortunately, that taught me some very good things and I learned what my kids need from me," the actor, father of two, Christopher and Kailey, said in an interview with Efe, according to Fox News Latino. 

According to Variety, Levy called working on the film "a dream come true" and said he is already busy shooting scenes for his next movie role in Peter Billingsley's action film, Term Life, with Vince Vaughn -- Levy plays the bad guy.

Perry, who is close friends with the powerful and caring Oprah Winfrey, often uses women as the nucleus of his story lines. In his latest film he recognizes the hardships that single moms face, and at the same time sees that they too have wants and needs, just like men do. 

How are single moms most affected in the U.S.?

According to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau, "the birth rate for single women has greatly increased across all demographics -- the birth rate for single mothers in 2007 was 80 percent higher than it was in 1980, and 20 percent of that increase happened between 2002 and 2007 -- the numbers are particularly high for recent mothers (mothers who gave birth in the previous 12 months) between age 20 and 24.

"In 2011, 62 percent of women between ages 20 and 24 who had recently given birth were unmarried.

"Among women ages 35 to 39, the percentage was considerably lower -- 17 percent of women who recently gave birth were unmarried -- but overall, 36 percent of the 4.1 million women who reported they had given birth in 2013 were unmarried. That's up from 31 percent in 2005."

When educational, socioeconomic, and racial barriers are factored in, the birthrate among single mothers varies.

"Sixty-eight percent of black women who had given birth in the past year were unmarried, compared to 11 percent of Asian women, 43 percent of hispanics and 26 percent of non-Hispanic whites. Fifty-seven percent of recent mothers without a high school diploma were unmarried compared to nine percent of recent mothers with a bachelors degree or higher. Sixty-nine percent of recent mothers who came from households with incomes with $10,000, in contrast to nine percent of recent mothers with households earning $200,000 or more."

Check out the official trailer for The Single Moms Club.

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