Marlon Wayans
Marlon Wayans works alongside no less than 10 members of the Wayans clan in this summer's spoof movie Dance Flick. But in August, he leaves the family behind to star as Ripcord in Paramount Picture's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, a big-screen adaptation of the Hasbro action figures. We caught up with him to get a bit of G.I. Joe scoop.
Fandango: What's the movie like?
Marlon Wayans: The action is sick. (Director) Stephen (Sommers) did an incredible job. It's not campy, but it doesn't take itself too seriously. I think it's going to be big blockbuster movie. It has all the ingredients – adventure, humor, romance and action.
Fandango: Did you have a G. I. Joe doll growing up?
Wayans: I used to watch all my friends play with G.I. Joes. I couldn't afford them. Now I actually have a doll (of my likeness) that kids are going to play with. They'll probably have Snake Eyes kick me in the neck. But hey, I'm immortalized. For me, I'm very proud of that.
Fandango: In the movie you worked in a line about the kung fu grip. Any other catchphrases make it in to the movie?
Wayans: Amazingly we worked in a lot of lines. When they're written in the script you're like, “Dude, am I really gonna say that?” But it actually works.
Fandango: This must have been the biggest-budgeted movie you've ever worked on, right? Scary Movie, for example, cost only $19 million.
Wayans: G.I. Joe is a $200 million movie. The makeup trailer was as big as my house! It was a whole other different production. It blows me away. I'm just going, “Wow, I'm in that.”
Fandango: Do you feel less pressure because the movie doesn't rest on your shoulders like, say, a typical Wayans Brothers movie would?
Wayans: No, it makes you work harder. You have this huge budget on your head, you're more on point, nobody slacks, but you get really cool costumes, you get incredible gadgets and you get stuff that you ain't gonna get for $19 million. I can't see them making the kinds of aircrafts they made for G.I. Joe for 19 million dollars!
Fandango: Do you have to fight for roles in movies that aren't considered “Wayans Brothers” movies?
Wayans: It's always a challenge. Sometimes they try to put you inside a box, but I look at my filmography and I've been able to do a lot. I've played a junkie in Requiem for a Dream, a white woman in White Chicks. I played a little person in Little Man. I played a weedhead in Scary Movie, and now (with G.I. Joe) I get to finally play a hero -- a hero with some humor.
Fandango: Any roles you'd like to be offered but aren't yet?
Wayans: Um…somebody's biopic. I don't know. Pick one.
Fandango: You were involved in the first two Scary Movies, but not the rest. Would you get back in there and do another one? (Full disclosure: this reporter's husband was a producer on the first installment of the franchise.)
Wayans: That's a tough question. I don't like where they went with Scary Movie 3 through 5. I didn't like the experience, I didn't like the lack of appreciation for the genre. So I don't know. Never say never.
Zorianna Kit was formerly on staff at the Hollywood Reporter and People Magazine before becoming entertainment anchor at KTLA in Los Angeles and the resident film analyst at the TV Guide Network. She is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and was a movie reviewer on AMC's "The Movie Club with John Ridley." She has filled in for Roger Ebert on "Ebert & Roeper" and appeared as herself in such films as "Iron Man," "The Longshots" and "Lakeview Terrace." For more on Zorianna, please visit www.zoriannakit.tv.
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