“That movie almost killed us”: GI Joe Actor Marlon Wayans Laughed in His Brother’s Face After Being Told To Play Detective Paris Hilton

Popular actor Marlon Wayans known for his role as Rip Cords in the action-thriller G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, hails from a family of entertainers. His siblings, parents, and some members of his extended family are all involved in the entertainment industry. They’re clearly a family who bring work home.

Having so much talent and inspiration around certainly helps when it comes to creating something. The craft becomes a collaborative experience with the family. A lot of back and forth of ideas, brainstorming, and creative discussions. Marlon Wayans mentioned one conversation he had with his brother Shawn Wayans about making a movie that later rose to a cult-classic status.

Marlon Wayans on the Birth of White Chicks

Two FBI agents Marcus Anthony II and Kevin Copeland are assigned the security of two socialite sisters Brittany and Tiffany Wilson, who find themselves cosplaying the sisters at the said event. This is the premise of the 2004 comedy White Chicks, which stars the Wayans brothers Shawn and Marlon in the lead roles. Directed by Keenen Wayans, the film was essentially a home production.

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In a video segment with GQ, Marlon Wayans revealed how this humorous social comedy came to be. The Scary Movie star said that it was actually his brother Shawn Wayans’s idea. And he laughed at his face for it. The actor said:

“I dunno I think Shawn was high when he called me up with this idea. He called me up and he was like: ‘Marlon we should play two white girls’. It was like three in the morning. I said: What? [He said] ‘We should play Paris and Nikki Hilton as detectives.’ I said: ‘Bro…are you high???'”

It was surely a crazy phone call to get in the middle of the night but just as crazily, this idea was followed through.

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Making White Chicks was an Intense Experience for the Wayans Brothers

Making a film like White Chicks was challenging. Taking the cultural differences that come with belonging to different racial backgrounds, and stereotypes surrounding race and gender and presenting them in a humorous light without offending anyone. That is a mountain of a task. These issues are sensitive and making this movie in today would be a total nightmare.

Interestingly, making it in 2004 wasn’t any less of a nightmare except for different reasons. Getting into the white girl makeup was imaginably the most taxing thing the actors ever had to do. Opening up on how hectic things got Marlon Wayans told GQ:

“That movie almost killed us, seven hours of makeup, We would work 14 hours after that it took an hour to take the makeup off. Shawn and I would get two hours of sleep for like 65 days.”

Sounds intense, but perhaps that’s how greatness is achieved.

White Chicks is now available to stream on Max.

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Source: GQ