Marlon Wayans thinks acting is easier than performing stand-up comedy.
Marlon Wayans finds acting easier than comedy
The 53-year-old actor has starred in a host of well-known films, including Scary Movie, White Chicks and Requiem for a Dream, and Marlon admits that he finds acting to be much easier than stand-up comedy.
Asked for his memories of starring in Requiem for a Dream, Marlon told the Guardian newspaper: “I remember walking into the set after Ellen Burstyn and the set felt hot, like somebody had just destroyed it. Darren [Aronofsky, director] was like: ‘Burstyn was a force of nature. You kids got work to do.’ I was like: ‘OK, let’s lock in.’
“It’s hard for Hollywood to put its finger on me. They go: ‘Who is he? This guy does everything.’ I want to be believable to the audience in comedy, drama, slapstick, parody. I think dramatic actors can be just as funny as comedy actors, but I don’t know if they can do an hour and a half of stand-up. That’s the part that’s frightening. A movie’s easy. It’s just acting.”
Marlon believes stand-up is actually “the scariest thing you’ll ever do”.
He explained: “Stand-up is like jumping out of a plane with no parachute. I do it every weekend. It’s the scariest thing you’ll ever do.
“You’re being judged, every joke. You don’t know if you’re gonna make people walk out. You don’t know if you’re gonna make people boo. You don’t know if you’re gonna make people laugh.
“Sometimes, your worst set turns out to be one of your best, because you did something different, you changed something up, you told some truth. Sometimes, I go on stage and I don’t wanna be funny. I just wanna tell the truth and see if that truth is funny before I find the funny in it.”
Marlon remains hopeful of making a sequel to White Chicks, the 2004 comedy movie. However, he’s not yet ready to formally announce anything.
He said: “We’re circling, but not yet. I don’t want to announce it until it actually happens and get people’s hopes up, because they get very violent about White Chicks.”
Marlon previously starred alongside Tupac Shakur in the 1994 sports-drama movie Above the Rim, and he relished the experience of working with the late rapper.
Marlon shared: “Tupac was a very hard worker. His work ethic is something that I’ll always remember.
“We’d shoot Above the Rim 12 hours a day, then he’d go home and work all night, then the next day he’d come to set and play us five songs. We were like: ‘When did you do that?’ He said: ‘Last night.’ When he passed, those songs came out, like Out on Bail and Thug 4 Life, Runnin’ from tha Police … I got a preview of those songs, back in the 90s.”