Marlon Wayans Sobs Onstage During 'Good Grief' Comedy Special After His Parents, 58 Loved Ones Die: 'I'm Hurting'
Marlon Wayans broke down in tears during his comedy special 'Good Grief' after the deaths of both his parents.
In a recent interview with Lewis Howes for 'The School of Greatness,' Wayans discussed his career direction and his efforts to maintain a steady course while avoiding missteps. Howes asked the 52-year-old about what a higher power might advise regarding how to "serve through creativity."
"Keep working and building and stay on your path. You're doing great," Wayans responded, about 27 minutes into the interview.
He also reflected on his Prime Video stand-up comedy special, 'Good Grief,' which focused on the deaths of his parents and his grieving process. While making the audience laugh, he was suddenly overwhelmed by his own grief.
Wayans recounted how he "broke down onstage" while discussing his late mother but ultimately chose to keep that emotional moment in the final cut of the special.
"I broke down. I cried," the 'White Chicks' actor shared. "Because the reality of my parents being gone hit me. It did [hit me before] but it wasn't supposed to hit me in a show when I'm filming a special. And it did and I was like, 'Alright cool.' I was going to cut that out but I was like, 'No.' Keep it in. Because I need people to understand that I, like you, I'm hurting. But life goes on and we still look for smiles."
He added how he receives "so many messages in my inbox about Good Grief on Amazon Prime, about how it affected them, how it helped them, helped them grieve. They lost their parents too, we're in the same club, gang gang. And how they cried with me and they thanked me because they were in a place of depression and I helped them see their way out because I showed myself my way out. So, that's healing."
Later in the conversation, Wayans was asked what he would want to hear from his late mother, Elvira, on his last day on Earth. Emotional, he imagined her saying, "Big boy, you did good... You made me proud."
Wayans' mother, Elvira Alethia, died in 2020. She was 81, per 'PEOPLE.'
His father, Howell Wayans, died three years later. Now, Wayans says he doesn't cry daily but has reached a new phase in his relationship with grief.
"I see it now because my last standup, Good Grief, was about my parents dying, about how to grieve, how to get through it. At minute 57, I'm making people laugh. I'm talking about changing my daddy's pampers and my mom's pampers and talking about their private parts. I got people cracking up. I got it all for 57 minutes," the father of two said. "And then, it hit me. I was running from my own pain."
'Good Grief,' filmed at the Apollo Theater, is available on Prime Video.
Wayans is also working on a horror project under Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw banner. Per 'The Hollywood Reporter,' Justin Tipping will direct the psychological horror film, titled 'Him,' starring Marlon Wayans as a legendary quarterback who is tasked with training a rising young star (Tyriq Withers) at his isolated compound.
