Marlon Wayans Quotes

“Success is not a destination, but the road that you're on. Being successful means that you're working hard and walking your walk every day. You can only live your dream by working hard towards it. That's living your dream.”

— Marlon Wayans

“Confident people, who understand comedy, improvise so much better than people who are scared. You can't be scared to improvise. You have to know your character, and then you have to let go.”

— Marlon Wayans

If you could cross a lion and a monkey, that's what I'd be, because monkeys are funny and lions are strong.

— Marlon Wayans

“There are so many things to talk about between black people, Hispanic people, white people, gay people, men, women, it's all based on fear. We all have fears, this thing that stops us from embracing as we are one. We are never going to be one. People are messed up, but humor lets us see how ignorant we can be.”

— Marlon Wayans

“I think family is key, and if you have love for family, then you have love for others - and you have unity as a people.”

— Marlon Wayans

“I'd like to see a ghost. It would confirm there's an afterlife.”

— Marlon Wayans

I had to do the full body shave for the first coupla weeks of 'White Chicks,' then I said, 'You know what? I'm just gonna be a hairy white chick 'cause this is too much!

— Marlon Wayans

“I'm good at coming up with wacky characters and funny dialogue.”

— Marlon Wayans

“So, I was sitting there and I watched 'Paranormal Activity' and I was like, 'Boy, white people do dumb stuff in movies.' So I was like, 'Why don't they just leave the house ... What if paranormal activity happened to a black couple?'”

— Marlon Wayans

'Paranormal 1' scared me because I didn't know if it was real or what. 'Blair Witch' was kind of scary for the same reason. It takes the voyeur element away and makes you think, 'Oh crap, this could really happen to me.'

— Marlon Wayans

“I've never really lived with somebody. Only for very brief periods. I learned I'm not a good roommate. I'm better off when we visit each other. I like the mystery.”

— Marlon Wayans

“Gotta stay in the gym, stay funny, stay sharp. I just love working.”

— Marlon Wayans

“I'm the most inappropriate dad. I curse in front of my kids and their friends. I let my kids watch R-rated movies. I'll walk by the movie theater and say, 'Let's go see that,' and my kids will say, 'No, it's rated R. It's not appropriate for kids.' I'm like Uncle Dad. We have fun. I don't live with them, but I drive over four days a week.”

— Marlon Wayans

Comedy clubs can be brutal. Those people are for real, and if you aren't funny, they aren't laughing. They don't care who you are.

— Marlon Wayans

“I went to a performing arts high school, we learned Shakespeare, I did 'Fences.' When you train, you can do anything.”

— Marlon Wayans

“You need to be lucky in life, but it's also what you do with your luck.”

— Marlon Wayans

“I was going to be valedictorian in elementary school, but I got into too many fights, and they made me salutatorian. I was smart back in the day. Now I'm just an idiot.”

— Marlon Wayans

“If I read something great and I want to go after it, I go after it. You don't wait to see what Hollywood wants to do with you. You decide what you want to do. I don't mind fighting when I really want something.”

— Marlon Wayans

“Let me tell you, Barack Obama is the most down dude in the world, but he's so smart; so articulate, such an amazing speaker; such a passionate man. He's humble.”

— Marlon Wayans

I got a man cave. I play my music loud. I bought big speakers because I need to hear music loud.

— Marlon Wayans

“I grew up in the projects. You have no choice but to fight. My jokes used to get me in fights.”

— Marlon Wayans

There's an art to comedy.

— Marlon Wayans

“I got caught stealing when I was a kid from the local bodega right across the street from where we lived. I tried to steal a big bag of Red Hot Dollars. And I swear, I was about 7 years old and the bag was bigger'n me.”

— Marlon Wayans

“I don't think of myself as a comedian, but as an artist, a scientist and chemist who just happens to be funny. I started doing stand-up to add another level to my game. I feel that I'm a young rookie with a veteran's skill.”

— Marlon Wayans

“I like All Saints. They make great leathers. I love Hugo Boss, especially the suits. I like James Perse for T-shirts, and Supra and Radii for sneakers. And God Is in the Details.”

— Marlon Wayans

“One of the greatest compliments you can ever get is when you make fun of a certain sect of people and they are laughing the hardest. When we did 'Men on Film' on 'In Living Color,' gay men wrote in how much they loved it.”

— Marlon Wayans

“'Scary Movie' has lost its way as a franchise. It has turned into 'Disaster Film' and 'Epic Movie' and 'Date Movie' and that isn't what I wanted. I wanted to do a movie that was just grounded in a reality that went to crazy places.”

— Marlon Wayans

“Comedy is very hard, but you have to learn the art and science of it.”

— Marlon Wayans

“Humor helps ease the tension of race and the differences in society. If there wasn't comedy I don't know if Obama could have ever become president.”

— Marlon Wayans

“I got written out of 'G.I. Joe' and was like, 'Welp, I'm going to go back to what I do: writing and producing comedy.'”

— Marlon Wayans

“With parody, you're referencing and sending up a particular genre, and mostly your material is going to be taken out of that genre.”

— Marlon Wayans

“I used to watch all my friends play with G.I. Joes. I couldn't afford them.”

— Marlon Wayans

“I've got Democratic skin, but a Republican pocket.”

— Marlon Wayans

“My sister Kim is like Lucille Ball. She's magical in terms of her performance and her writing.”

— Marlon Wayans

“Sometimes they try to put you inside a box, but I look at my filmography and I've been able to do a lot.”

— Marlon Wayans

“Look, I want to be able to make the stupidest movies ever, because they make people laugh and they make money. But that's not all I want to do. And I think I've proven to some people - the ones paying attention - that I can do more. Everybody else, well, they can wait and see and make up their mind.”

— Marlon Wayans

“I like to work and there's no movies for actors, period, especially black actors. When white actors are like, 'Man, there's no work out there,' then black actors are like, 'Are you kidding me?'”

— Marlon Wayans

“People don't understand how much time and work it takes to make somebody laugh, and how hard it is to write a script, to put together the story, the characters. When everyone laughs simultaneously, there's no greater feeling.”

— Marlon 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.'”

— Marlon Wayans

“I want to be remembered as a guy who's not going to change your life but who is going to change your mood. As a guy who made you smile and say, "I miss him. He was a lot of fun."”

— Marlon Wayans

“I see a funny guy who's imperfect, but has a great heart and no vanity when it comes to what he'll do to get a laugh. I see a guy who loves his art and loves his family, and who is willing to live and die for both.”

— Marlon Wayans

“Nobody loves me. No, everybody wanted me to do this one by myself, and I wanted to do it by myself. So, this is sorta like my first solo album. I didn't pull any tricks out of my hat, and just went with the natural flow of the film.”

— Marlon Wayans

“Everyone thinks I'm a comedian - which I am and are. I was born into a comedic family but I'm trained as an actor.”

— Marlon Wayans

“I was 160lbs when I started and I went up to 195lbs. There were no steroids. But it was hard work, dedication, hitting the gym. You kind of see it.”

— Marlon Wayans

I sound like Jesse Jackson or Martin Luther King, but I honestly feel like the world is mature enough. And, for me, I just want to do good roles.

— Marlon Wayans

We have a black President in the United States. I think the world has matured. It's no longer about colour, but the person in the skin.

— Marlon Wayans

“I always feel that the best roles are written for white guys.”

— Marlon Wayans

“I want to do literally everything. I think I was gifted ... I inherited one of the best comedy visionaries as a director.”

— Marlon Wayans

“I want to be believable in anything I take on.”

— Marlon Wayans

“Whatever role I do, I've got to do the work. It all starts with the body. Get that ready and everything else follows.”

— Marlon Wayans