In the May 20 issue of Variety, I spoke to Marlon Wayans about his extraordinary path from New York City housing projects to Hollywood stardom, and his long-awaited return to the Scary Movies franchise after it was taken from him and his brothers by the Tyrant Weinstein.
It covered a lot of the story, from his trauma of losing 62 loved ones to the coronavirus pandemic to how he negotiated having a transgender son and being best friends with Dave Chappelle. However, there were many that did not make it to print.
On the release date of Scary Movie, the sixth film in the Wayans series of famous horror parodies, here are the best parts we left out. These include Trump’s idea to use Mar-a-Lago as the setting for “White Chicks 2,” and director Darren Aronofsky’s decision to forbid Trump from having sex while making “Requiem for a Dream,” resulting in him losing the role of Robin.
On whether Lorne Michaels has a grudge against him regarding “In Living Color”:
“I’d like to think otherwise, but I haven’t been asked to host yet. Maybe one day I’ll be hot enough to host SNL. It would be an honor and an honor. We pay homage to those who came before us. Lorne Michaels, Mel We’ve always looked up to guys like Brooks and the Zucker brothers. If they didn’t have the foresight, we wouldn’t be able to dream the way we do now, and for us it’s never been a competition.”
On whether Weyances will be rebooted “in living colors”:
“Maybe my mission is to reboot In Living Color!” Only we can do that. Some things don’t need to be resuscitated. “In Living Color” is an established show and I wish it still existed, but it’s hard to pull off that level of humor every week for several years. And we have to get into it. Keenen (Ivory Wayans) was a central character on “In Living Color,” and she died within one season of her departure. But if you had asked me 15 years ago if we would do another Scary Movie, I would have said, “No, the ship has sailed!” But if God has it in our cards, if a Scary Movie can happen, maybe an In Living Color reboot can happen. However, that is not being considered at the moment. ”
About the setting of “White Chicks 2” at Mar-a-Lago:
“That’s not a terrible idea! I had that conversation with my brother and shot him down. ‘White Chicks’ can go anywhere, but Mar-a-Lago and Florida definitely make it happen and are a fun place to see our girls in that world.” ‘White Chicks’ is like a medium. We can send them into space, and they’ll be interesting. I’d like to do a ‘Very White Chicks Christmas.’ Then find the best place to put them. ”
On “Behind the Smile,” a dark comedy he made with brother Damon Wayans that never saw the light of day:
“This is Dave Chappelle’s favorite movie. He always asks me to screen ‘Behind the Smile.’ It’s a dark drama about comedy, a great movie, and my best performance. I said to Damon, ‘You put my Oscar in the closet.’ And he said, “When I die, I’ll let you go.” So I said, ‘What’s the point of that? ! ‘I think so. ”
On telling Shannon Sharpe that she was giving up Tesla because of Elon Musk’s transphobia:
“I haven’t even driven it since I got home. I’ll get rid of it when I get home!”
On Darren Aronofsky’s order not to have sex during ‘Requiem for a Dream’:
“Darren is crazy. He asked me, ‘What are your three favorite things?'” I said, “I love chocolate, sex and drinking.” He said, “That’s great.” So what I want you to do is: I don’t want you to have sex or masturbate. I don’t want you to eat sugar, and I don’t want you to drink alcohol. He called the three weeks before filming “three weeks of anger” and said, “I want you to do nothing. Then you’ll know what it feels like to reveal something, because you guys are junkies.” And I said, “Let’s bet.” ”
On being cast as Robin in Batman Forever and then losing the role:
“This wasn’t supposed to happen. If Robin had woken up, I wouldn’t have been Marlon. I could have exploded and become something else. I could have been Will Smith, but I wasn’t Marlon then. God wanted something different for me. Do you think I want to bash Chris Rock? (Laughs) Everything in my life happened for a reason, and you may not understand it in the moment, but at 53 years old Now I can look back on that heartbroken 19-year-old.”It hurt so much that I got the role, and I’m glad it didn’t happen, but if it had happened, I probably would have done it when I was 20. He would not have created his own television show, wrote and produced more than 15 films, participated in the production of “White Chicks” and “Don’t Be a Menace…” and created a show called “Marlon.” I did this because I wanted to work, and my brother taught me that as a black person in this industry, you can’t wait for a job, you have to create your own opportunities. ”
Regarding his departure from the New York Knicks:
“You know, I was tired of heartbreak. I’ve been a Knick fan since I was 12 years old, and at that time I was like, ‘You know what? These black guys can’t win!'” How many season tickets is Spike Lee going to buy?I gave up on the Knicks because I met a genius named Michael Jordan. I was on a train in Jordan. Basketball hasn’t been the same since Jordan retired. ”
On Melissa Barrera’s desire to appear in a “scary movie”:
“Come on, tell me! I wish I had heard about that. It would have been so much fun. I definitely would have tried to make a career out of it. It would have been a great cameo. Maybe in part 7!”
On Dave Chappelle turning down the role in The Nutty Professor:
“I was jealous of watching Dave kill the role. But I never looked at a door and wished that door would open again. It wasn’t for me. It was for Dave. We were similar. I’ve been down that road, but no. In the past, Dave would call me and say, “Marlon! Let’s write a movie together,” and I’d be like, “I’ll give it a shot.” And then Dave would disappear. And six months later, he called me and said, “Marlon!” Let’s write a movie together. ‘And I think, ‘I’ll bet!’ And then he would disappear again. ”
If winning an Oscar is his goal:
“I look at it like the golden key that unlocks the industry and gives you the anointing oil of the industry. If you can get the best script with the best director and the best budget, life becomes easier. For me, that was elusive. So I’m lucky that it’s my industry. I’m lucky to have that statue in my hand. I may never get into it, but every time I do a project, and every time I get my family of creators together, we spend a few months having fun and telling these jokes.”I want to make people laugh if I can, and I have an Oscar statuette, so I’m happy to be able to have fun every day.” ”
