Marlon Wayans Explains Why He Never Married and Talks New Role in ‘Respect’ Movie

Marlon Wayans is confessing about how he feels about marriage and the real reason he never decided to enter into a union.

In an interview with Essence, the 49-year-old actor, comedian, and member of the uber-talented Wayans family explained, “I never got married because I knew my mom needed me.”

Wayans, whose mother, Elvira Wayans, died last year at age 81, said, “On her death bed, I said, ‘Can I tell you something woman?’ She was in a lot of pain and she was fighting to stay alive and I say, ‘I’m 47 years old and I’ve never been married because I always wanted you to be my number one girl.’”

Wayans who says he is still mourning the loss of his mother went on to say, “My mother turned over, she looked at me, she grabbed my hand, and she pulled me close to her. And said ‘I know, I love you too.”

Wayans said in that moment, “I gave her a kiss and I said, ‘I’ll see you soon, but not that soon because I got a s— load of life to live.’ She laughed in pain, and I gave her a kiss, and those were my last words to my mom.”

Marlon Wayans has been discussing his new role  as Ted White, Aretha Franklin’s first husband, in the music icon’s biopic ‘RESPECT. He explained to Blackfilm.com why he wanted to play a damaged character and his on and off screen chemistry with Jennifer Hudson. 

“ I wanted to read why someone becomes a pimp and it’s usually because of mommy issues, and I wanted to see what was the damage to drive a man to do that and it usually comes from a very vulnerable place and they are acted out because at the end of the day he’s just a little boy crying … it give you some empathy for whatever character,” He told the site.

Wayans has an all-new HBO Max special You Know What It Is which dropped August 19, which is a complete transformation of Marlon’s comedic perspective.