Marlon Wayans On The Status Of The Richard Pryor Biopic

Marlon Wayans has a new film out in theaters today, the horror-comedy entitled, A Haunted House, but I’ve been wondering if the long-delayed biopic about the life of legendary comedian Richard Pryor is any closer to filming. In short, no, as revealed in a new Q&A with Shadow and Act. Hopefully that’ll change for the comedian who has shown he has legitimate acting chops in the indie-drama Requiem For A Dream.

On the status of the Richard Pryor project:

You know, I don’t know what’s going on with it. Hollywood is in a weird place right now. Everyone’s scared to make movies. I think it’ll be a brilliant movie. You know, I’d never done stand-up until 2 years ago, when I did for the first time. And the reason I started doing stand-up was in preparation to play Richard Pryor. And for me – I’m a method actor – and I just wanted to become Richard Pryor, and see what the journey of a comedian was. But since the movie stalled, I don’t know when it’ll get done. But one day, I believe it will get done. So in the meantime, I’m just making sure that I’m prepared for that moment, starting with doing lots of stand-up around the country. And you know, it’s making me better, smarter, more articulate, and more calmer, and a better writer. So I’m so grateful for this journey, and believing that one day it will get done, and I want to make sure I’m prepared and ready for that moment when it comes.