February 3, 2016 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
Marlon Wayans: The ‘Fifty Shades of Black’ Interview
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
M
arlon Wayans is a true
multi-hyphenate: an
actor/producer, come-
dian, writer and film
director. His films have grossed
more than $750 million in do-
mestic box office, an average
of nearly $50 million per out-
ing. As a stand-up comedian,
Marlon sells out theaters and
clubs alike nationwide.
On the feature film front, he
recently starred in and pro-
duced A Haunted House, which
grossed over $18 million on a
$2 million budget.
On the television front, he’ll
soon be shooting a pilot for
NBC slated to debut next fall.
“
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra; Mar-
maduke; and The Heat.
On TV, Marlon has appeared
on “In Living Color,” “Chil-
dren’s Hospital,” “Second Gen-
eration Wayans,” and “The
Wayans Bros,” which was the
highest rated comedy on The
WB network.
Here, he talks about his latest
offering, Fifty Shades of Black.
Kam Williams: Hey Marlon,
thanks for the time.
Marlon Wayans: How’re you
doin’, Kam?
KW: Where did the inspira-
tion come from to do a parody
of Fifty Shades of Grey?
MW: Initially, I just wanted
to learn something from the
I think women were a little upset
with Fifty Shades of Grey because
the female lead was so submissive.
Fifty Shades of Black is different in
terms of that
Marlon’s additional big
screen credits include White
Chicks, Scary Movie, Scary Mov-
ie 2, Mo’ Money, Above the Rim,
Don’t Be a Menace to South Cen-
tral While Drinking Your Juice
in the Hood, The Sixth Man,
Senseless, Dungeons & Drag-
ons, Requiem for a Dream, The
Ladykillers, Behind the Smile,
Little Man, Norbit, Dance Flick,
novel, because women loved it
so much.
I was thinking of writing my
first parody book, until I saw
the movie. Then it kinda just
hit me.
I decided to scrap the book
and do a spoof because the film
gave me such great archetypes
to work with in characters that
I knew would be enjoyable to
take to extremes.
Playing a really bad lover
was a lot of fun.
KW: So, your approach to
Christian [Grey] was to flip the
script.
MW: Yeah, he goes to ex-
tremes. He’s a stalker, and it
gets uncomfortable.
And he’s also an extremely
bad lover. I thought, what if
he’s a great package, with all
these tools that excite women
— until they get him into bed,
where he’s just awful.
KW: How was it working op-
posite Kali Hawk, who plays
your primary love interest,
Hannah?
MW: Kali was great and a lot
of fun.
She was perfect for Hannah
because, in the movie Han-
nah’s a virgin and, in real life,
Kali’s a prude. So, that kinda
worked hand-in-hand.
KW: What message do you
think people will take away?
MW: I think women were a
little upset with Fifty Shades of
Grey because the female lead
was so submissive. Fifty Shades
of Black is different in terms of
that.
Movies are always fun when
there’s an objective and you
meet a lot of obstacles along
the way. And in this film, the
hardest person to dominate is
a Black woman.
KW: What was
the most surpris-
ing thing you
learned
about
your
ancestry
when your broth-
er Keenan had
your
lineage
traced by Skip
Gates on the PBS-
TV series “Finding
Your Roots” the
other night?
MW: It was in-
teresting to learn
I was Asian. I had
no idea. I was won-
dering why I liked
sushi so much.
[Laughs]
KW: I found it
fascinating how strong your
ancestors’ bonds were even
during slavery, with an es-
caped slave being willing to
risk his freedom to rescue rel-
atives.
MW: Yeah, they went back to
go get somebody. He thought,
“Hey, what’s freedom without
my family?” For him to go back
was awesome.
KW: I see that sort of loyalty
as a trademark of the Wayans
family to this day. I can’t tell
you how many actors and ac-
tresses have told me over the
years that somebody with the
last name Wayans gave them
their big break. Just think of
all the people who got their
start on “In Living Color”: J-Lo,
Marlon Wayons
Jamie Foxx and Jim Carrey, to
name a few. And so many oth-
ers since.
MW: It’s funny you should
say that. Generosity kinda
runs in our family. My dad is a
very generous guy, and my my
mom’s always giving advice.
So, Keenen was ultimately a
wonderful teacher.
He taught me and Shawn and
Damon to be the same way.
Those jewels are of no value
‘til you pass them down. Sound
advice is one of the best things
you can share with someone.
We want to see other people
succeed, and I guess that’s
something we all inherited.
It’s just part of our matrix.
Read the rest of the interview at
TheSkanner.com