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"Scary Movie" alumni Shawn and Marlon Wayans have probably never looked scarier than they do in the new comedy "White Chicks." The two play FBI agents who go undercover as white women to bust a kidnapping plot involving wealthy hotel heiresses the Wilson sisters. MTV News' Kelly Marino sat down with the two brothers to find out what it was like to go undercover ... in heels.
MTV: "White Chicks" pokes fun at socialites, the wealthy and people who are famous for being famous. What inspired you to target that area of society?
Shawn Wayans: We thought it was a rich world, no pun intended, to actually go into and really expose and find the humor in it. You know, these types of characters do exist in this world, who make all kinds of unimportant things really, really important, like shopping at Gucci and Prada.
Marlon Wayans: For us, we were just fortunate to kind of be ahead of the curve, 'cause you have to form a movie a year before it comes out ... and now it's really starting to bump out because now they've got that TV show—
Shawn: "The Simple Life" and all those shows.
Marlon: You know, you've got the Hamptons specials and of course the Paris Hilton tape, you know, it is like the comedy gods are smilin' on us.
MTV: Have you guys ever met the Hilton sisters?
Marlon: Yeah, they threatened to kick our ass with a Gucci shoe.
MTV: How involved was the process of transforming you guys into "white chicks"?
Marlon: A lot of work. I didn't know it took five hours for a white girl to get ready.
Shawn: [At first it was] about seven hours, and then after we got it down pat it was five hours. It was tough.
MTV: Was any of it painful?
Marlon: The shoes were painful, and the top.
Shawn: And the contact lenses.
MTV: Is it true you guys were wearing G-strings?
Shawn: I had a scrunchie tied up to a safety pin.
Marlon: I had a G-string ... and that was uncomfortable when you sit down. So I stood up a lot.
MTV: Are you worried about criticism of the stereotyping that provides a lot of the humor in "White Chicks"?
Marlon: We kind of break the mold and run away from the stereotype. You've got to have certain prototypes in terms of your character, certain archetypes with every character, and that's just the movie structure. But this one, it's just a situation comedy about two black guys that have to become two white girls, so it's just like a "Mrs. Doubtfire." He was a father that loved his kids. He wanted to be around them, so he created this Mrs. Doubtfire character so he could baby-sit the children. There's a reason. It's just a high-concept comedy in which it just so happens that race is one of the wells we go to for comedy, but there is race, gender and class, so you stay ahead of the audience and you have a very rich world, and I think the audience really enjoys the fact that it's a broad film and it plays across the board — men, women, Oprah loved it, so ...
Shawn: Oprah!
MTV: In the process of making this movie, did you find yourselves focusing on the things that women do that men don't? Were there any differences between the sexes that only came to light once you had to try to be women?
Shawn: We've spent a lot of time around women. We have five sisters, and a lot of women work with us, and we study female behavior and things come up every day that make us go, "That's funny that women do that." Like women, they don't like advice. They don't want you to fix their problems, they just want you to listen. Those types of things just happen all the time.
Marlon: Yeah, after an argument you have with a woman, it's not an argument — she's just having a discussion. You feel like it's an argument as a guy, but she just wants you to listen. For guys it's about the resolution, and women, they don't want the resolution, they don't even want you to answer, they just want you to shut up and listen.
MTV: You mentioned that you work with a lot of women, but you also do a lot of work with family members. Obviously there's a comfort zone there, but isn't it also sometimes difficult to work with your siblings?
Marlon: We do our best work with each other. It's always going to be challenging — anything worth having is a little bit challenging — but this is just actual fun. It has its challenging moments. This movie was pretty challenging, but you look at the audience reaction. We sat in on a couple of screenings, and the way they're howlin', we're doin' something right.
Shawn: And I had a great time working with him and [director/co-writer] Keenan [Ivory Wayans] up in Vancouver.
Marlon: I'm glad you had fun.
Shawn: Oh, it was a blast.
Marlon: Speak for yourself, bud.
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Photo: Joe Lederer
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