Hey kids, what a raucous time we had with two generations of Wayans.  The hilarious family sat down to talk about their newest movie spoof Dance Flick.  In between jokes, teasing, dueling imitations and straight-up silliness, they let us know what to expect from the Wayans second coming.

Dance Flick

Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Damon Wayans Jr., Damien Dante Wayans, Craig Wayans & Affion Crockett

The Lady Miz Diva:  Dance Flick is allegedly a PG-13 movie …

Shawn Wayans: It’s PG-13-esque.

Marlon Wayans:  It’s PG-13-esque or PG/Rrrr-13…. 

LMD:  A lot of the comedy is skirting the R-rated edge.

MW:  Actually, we got scaled back a lot, cos if you compare this to Scary Movie, this is like a rated G movie.  In Scary Movie, we had fluids flying everywhere.  We showed every body part known to man.  If you had a body part, it was in Scary Movie.

SW:  It was in my ear.

MW:  He had one in his ear.  There was gallons of fluids, enough to make a another tribe of Wayans family flying throughout Scary Movie.  This one we were walking a tightrope.

SW:  Also, I had to have negotiations with the MPAA, so whatever you see there.  When you see Miss Cameltoé, with her stuff, I had to have knives out to get it right.

{All laugh}

It becomes a negotiation; the MPAA they get their cut, and they tell you what you can use and what you can’t use.  For us, we would like to use it all.

MW:  We self-regulated.  We cut out a whole segment called “Dirty Dancing.”  And it was some dirty, dirty dancing, and we cut it out internally before we even got to the ratings board.  We’re growing up, we’re becoming more responsible.

SW:  Actually, no we’re not.  It’s cos we knew they’d give us an “R.” 

MW:  No, they would’ve given us an NC-17!

SW:  But the truth is that’s the perfect scenario is to walk the line of a rated R for a comedy, but deliver a PG-13.

LMD:  I have a question for Affion.

All Wayans:  Affion! Finally! Thank God.

LMD:  What was it like to walk into this fortress of Wayans?

Affion Crockett:  Well, the great thing is this; I went to the Wayans’ school of comedy years before I met them.  I grew up on Hollywood Shuffle and In Living Color, all of their movies, the Wayans Brothers Show.  By the time I met them, we already thought alike, plus I had my own brand they respected, so it was seamless.  It was almost like we knew each other already.

LMD:  Were you able to contribute to the making of Dance Flick?

AC: Well, of course! You see me standing on my head on that poster?

{All laugh}

And Shawn and I are dueling impressionists, so we sharpened our irons like that. We’d have Chris Rock battles.

Damon Wayans, Jr:  They would do Chris Rock for three hours on set!

{Affion and Shawn demonstrate, while everybody laughs}

Damien Dante Wayans:  Literally that would go on for hours.

LMD:  What was the inspiration behind putting David Alan Grier in a fat suit?

DDW:  I’m not going to say the actor’s name, but we actually had somebody else in mind or the role of Sugar Bear.  Honestly, David Alan Grier was the perfect Sugar Bear.  Things always happen for a reason.

SW:  The comedy gods were watching.

DDW:  Yeah, the comedy gods were watching over this movie  And what happened with the other actor, it didn’t work out, but with David it was such a blessing, cos as soon as Sugar Bear comes onscreen, you’re laughing the whole way through.

SW:  But on top of that, we all are David Alan Grier fans.  I am the biggest David Alan Grier fan ever since I was little…

MW:  Me too!  We always used to make him have us laugh him and Jim {Carrey}.

SW:  He taught me a lot of stuff.  So now that we’re making movies, we always think of him.  Anything we think of that David could do, we put him in there.  He was in Little Man and we put him in this and we just know that he’s the go-to guy.

MW:  Nothing better than having a team where wherever you pass the ball, you know somebody could knock down a shot.  Amy {Sedaris}, she came in, pass the pass, knocked down a shot.  David every time you pass him the ball, he knocked down a shot.  So it’s not always on you.

SW:  You let other people get off a shot.

LMD:  So how did he deal with the fat suit?

MW:  He hated that, but you would never tell by his performance.  I mean, sometimes he had to wait around in the fat suit for hours and we had him come back and do reshoots, but every time out he came back and was funnier and funnier and funnier.

LMD:  Marlon, you’re going to play Ripcord in G.I Joe alongside Channing Tatum.  Did he know you were spoofing him in Dance Flick?

MW: He absolutely knew and this is what I love about the boy, is he would come in my trailer, cos I was filming this while I was filming GI Joe.  So at lunch, he would come in my trailer and watch the dailies with me.  And he’d be like, {Does Channing Tatum imitation} “Dude, that’s so wrong!  Oh my God, are you making fun of me? That’s hilarious!”

SW:  What a knucklehead.

MW:  Naw, but what a sport, man.  And it’s a testament to the kind of kid he is and we have a real strong bond.  It was a lot of fun doing Joe with him and I wouldn’t want another Duke.

LMD:  Did he have any suggestions?

MW:  No, stay on out the comedy game, brother.

{All laugh}

Don’t burn yourself.  Keep this for the professionals.  No, but every now and then he would say “Wouldn’t that be funny?” I wanted him to do a cameo, but I didn’t want to bother him about it, y’know?  Plus, I didn’t want him to see all the things we were doing to make fun of him.

~ The Lady Miz Diva

May 15^th, 2009

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