Marlon Wayans takes on a different kind of TV dad

Early in the development of his new NBC sitcom, Marlon Wayans encountered a hurdle. “Marlon was something I wanted to do based on my family and my experience as a dad and a significant other,” he said. “But how do you do a family show when you’re not married?”

By acknowledging that love for an ex remains. In Marlon, debuting on Wednesday, Wayans plays a father committed to co-parenting his two children with his former wife (Essence Atkins), from whom he can’t quite detach.

The show mirrors the real-life arrangement he has with his ex, Angela Zackery, the mother of his daughter, Amai, 17, and son, Shawn, 15. “What I love about the show is that it’s me — it’s my matrix, it’s my soul,” Wayans said. “I’m a different kind of TV dad. I’m severely inappropriate, I’m crazy, I’m wild. But I’m sweet as all hell, I’m very responsible and I have my own version of respectful.”

Starting last Friday, Wayans, 45, can also be seen on Netflix in Naked as a bumbling groom who must relive a humiliating journey to the altar — a la Groundhog Day, only without clothes — until he gets it right for the woman (Regina Hall) he loves. Calling from Los Angeles during a break in his comedy tour, he spoke about his newfound maturity and distinguishing himself from his famous brothers. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Let’s talk about “the boat.” In 2013 you were photographed on a yacht kissing a woman who wasn’t your partner, and the aftermath wasn’t pretty. Was this the genesis of Marlon?

It was a break-up, and when you go through a break-up what you find is you have two choices. You can break up, or you can develop a new chapter of love and respect for one another. I’m looking at my life and I’m going, “All right, I’ve got this family, and I love this woman, and there’s this break-up — but why does it have to mean the end of my family? Because it’s not.” I spend more time with my family now than I did before. [Angela and I] may not have intercourse but the relationship is very strong, communication is better, and it’s actually a lot more peaceful and loving.

What statement are you trying to make?

There are so many broken families in this world, and in the African-American culture. But you don’t have to break up your family because you and your partner broke up. You still have to father your children, you still have to communicate, you still have to grow your family together. It’s not, “You do you, I do me.”

You curse a lot in your stand-up routine. How hard it is to translate your humour to a network show?

I look at it as growth — learning how to tell the same joke without saying it. I want to tell one joke that makes the whole world laugh, so you’ve got to keep challenging yourself and putting yourself in situations where you’re refining your point of view.

You’ve worked a lot with Essence Atkins. Why do you keep coming back to her?

I love the way we work together because she listens. When you’re performing with me I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do so I can’t give you a heads up. God whispers something crazy to me and I do it. And it was like jumping rope — she just knew how to jump in. I was like, “If I ever do a Cosby, you’re going to be my Phylicia Rashad.”

You’ve mentioned Cosby a couple of times. Are you still a fan, despite the accusations against him?

I love and respect women, and I don’t condone any kind of abuse of women. But as a comedian you’ve got to separate the two. Cosby was one of the funniest comedians of all time. His show was powerful in that it showed African-Americans in a beautiful light. He helped us to dream, to look at life, look at poverty, look at education and try to better ourselves. To say that that show didn’t affect me would be a lie. But to say that the allegations against him didn’t affect me would be a lie as well. What I’ve learnt in my life is I have a lot of imperfections but I would hope that people can extract whatever good I have and the rest you throw away.

After parodies like Fifty Shades of Black, why Naked?

“Naked” was a chance for me to do a romantic comedy because, believe it or not, I’m trying to transition into a leading man. I forget that I’ve got dramatic skills, and it’s good to flex those muscles. I want to do things that not only make you laugh but make you feel and think.

You’re a younger brother to Keenen, Damon and Shawn. Are you positioning yourself to break free from their legacy?

I look at the Wayans as a great institution, as a wonderful tribe of talented artists who love, love, love comedy. I’ll be a Wayans forever at heart and in spirit. I just want to carry my own torch into the darkness and find Marlon.