Marlon Wayans May Have Played Will Smiths Dad, but Hes Also Got an Hour of Stand-Up on the Slap – Vanity Fair

The first season of Peacocks Fresh Prince reboot, Bel-Air, was building to this moment. The dramatic, present-day take on Will Smiths iconic 1990s sitcom had been teasing the arrival of Lou, the absentee father of Will (Jabari Banks). With Tony Awardwinner Ben Vereen having famously played Lou for one episode on Fresh Prince, expectations were high for who would be tapped for the role on Bel-Air. And finally in the season finale the volatile and unpredictable Lou, first introduced from behind, walked into the Banks mansion, looked around, and then turned to face the camerarevealing comedy superstar Marlon Wayans.

Wayans and Bel-Air were immediate trending topics on social media, with viral tweets about Wayanss underrated range and some even calling for him to win an Oscar (They shoot right past the Emmys and go, Its time to give him his EGOT, cracks Wayans). Its likely the only other person who could have generated that kind of response is the actual Will Smith, who Wayans says was going to play Lou before scheduling conflicts got in the way. It might have been a blessingthe finale episode Where To aired March 31, a.k.a. four days after The Slap.

As Smith was dealing with the fallout from the Oscars, Wayans was receiving some of the best reviews of his 30-year career for just two scenes of work, which found the White Chicks and Scary Movie star displaying a vulnerability and fire that he rarely gets to showcase. One second, Lou is wiping away tears, saying Will deserved better, only to shortly thereafter explode, grabbing his son by the throat and yelling that he didnt come here to be disrespected. Believing that Will has made his choice and must live with the consequences, Lou once again leaves his family, and leaves us wondering if Wayans will be back, or if, like Vereen, hell make the one-time indelible impact and never return to the Fresh Prince universe.

On the heels of his celebrated Bel-Air guest spot as well as HBO Max comedy specials, we talked with Wayans about getting the call from executive producer Will Smith, putting together a stand-up set exclusively about the Slap, and wanting to save the world and get the girl in whatever role might come next.

Vanity Fair: Let me start by congratulating you on being able to say you played Will Smiths dad. Thats a pretty big thing to have on the rsum. Considering the success of this, are you now seeking out any other famous dad roles?

Marlon Wayans: [Laughs.] That's going to my new thing, playing all the famous dads. Like some people go for biopics, I'm just the famous dad dude. Will already did King Richard, maybe I'll do my dads story, the Howell Wayans story. It's just him having a bunch of kids.

Ill admit that I was behind on Bel-Air when the finale dropped, but it was impossible not to be spoiled that you showed up as Wills dad since the internet was going nuts and you were trending. How surprised were you by the response, and what was it like seeing this kind of support and appreciation for you and your work? There was literally a story with the headline, Marlon Wayans Has Fans Calling for His Oscar After His Surprising Bel-Air Performance.

I was like, um, I think it's an Emmy! [Laughs.] They shoot right past the Emmys and go, "It's time to give him his EGOT!" Like, yo, let me get nominated first. But it felt great. And I knew it was a great part. Will had called mepre-slapand he was like, "I'm busy, I'm supposed to play it, but it'd be really cool if you played it." I was like, "Yeah, send it to me." I got the script and casting director Vicky Thomas, who I've known for a long time, was like, "He'd be great for this." And I think they needed somebody that... you know, it's crazy that the Wayans Bros. is on Fresh Prince. I think the only one else that could've done it and made the same impact is if Martin [Lawrence] would've played the father. It'd be like, "Oh, Martin's on Fresh Prince?!"

So I just felt like the part had so much substance. I don't know that part because I'm a father and I love my kids. I just wrote my daughter a post on Instagram for her birthday that's like three pages long. I couldn't imagine the pain and the turmoil that somebody removed from his child would have, especially if he thinks in his head that he did it for the right reasons. Then, I didnt know...its two scenes. Like I didn't know they were going to blow up like that because it's literally two scenes. I had to go look at the show. I was like, "What's going on? What did Marlon do?" [Laughs.]

You mentioned Wayans Bros., which began airing towards the end of the Fresh Prince run in 1995. At the time, what was your relationship to both Fresh Prince and Will?

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Marlon Wayans May Have Played Will Smiths Dad, but Hes Also Got an Hour of Stand-Up on the Slap - Vanity Fair

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero