We’re proud to say that when it was announced that Marlon Wayans would play Richard Pryor in Bill Condon’s biopic of the legendary comedian, we did not participate in what the L.A. Times calls “Internet jeering.†Sure, it seemed a bit strange for the man responsible for Little Man to take on such an emotionally challenging role, but Wayans was fantastic in Requiem for a Dream and some of us here even saw White Chicks in the theater (so what?). Now a profile in the L.A. Times is only making us like Wayans more.
“Look, I want to be able to make the stupidest movies ever, because they make people laugh and they make money,†Wayans recently said with a smirk. “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.†…
For Wayans, “Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?†(which begins shooting in the fall) is the sound of opportunity. “This is like an invitation to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro for me, and I’ve never been more excited in my life than when I got the role,†he said last week. “I want to be in dramas, I want to produce, I want to write and I want to prove I can handle a role such as this one.â€
The world may not be ready for Oscar winner Marlon Wayans, but it doesn’t seem to have a choice.
Marlon Wayans on playing Richard Pryor: ‘I’m ready’ [LAT]