Marlon Wayans Had to Sacrifice Everything He Loved to Do for ‘Requiem for a Dream’

Actor Marlon Wayans surprised many with his highly praised performance in the drama Requiem for a Dream. But he made a lot of sacrifices that might’ve helped further immerse him in the role.

‘Requiem for a Dream’ director took away everything Marlon Wayans loved for the movie

Wayans famously portrayed Tyrone C. Love in the 2000 cult classic. He collaborated alongside director Darren Aronofsky for the first time, which he saw as one of his favorite filming experiences ever. In a resurfaced interview with Female First, he reflected on what it was like working with the director.

“First of all I think Darren Aronofsky is a great director everything he does, well three out of four things, is Oscar nominated. He is just a visionary and he is one of the greats of our generation he is a throwback to the days when they made movies with people who had their own rhythm and own way of telling the story and can do various styles within his own style,” Wayans said. “And Darren cares about everything in the frame from the actor to the lighting and the set – every one of the little shots of the drugs and the eye that he was shooting he really knew what he wanted.”

A known perfectionist, Aronofsky required Wayans to endure certain trials before they started filming. Which included walking around New York in the blistering cold.

“And, for me, it was the process that we went through before the acting – he had me come out to New York in February and we rehearsed for two of three months before I shot,” he remembered. “I had to walk around New York in February freezing cold – and he was like ‘I want you to know what the New York cold feels like I want you to remember this because you will be filming this winter scene in summer’ and I said ‘Hey bro I am from New York.’”

But Aronofsky took things a bit further by removing as many temptations from the Scary Movie star as possible. This made sense as the movie’s themes focused on addiction, and its characters’ inability to manage their own self-destructive desires. Aronofsky made Wayans feel his character’s sense of withdrawal in his own comical way.

“It was little rituals like that – we found five thing that I love to do; I love sugar, sex, masturbating and he was like, ‘You can’t do any of those.’ And I was like, ‘Why?’ And he said, ‘I want you to know what it is like to go without something that you love,'” Wayans said.

Marlon Wayans initially turned down ‘Requiem for a Dream’

Wayans almost rejected what would be one of his most iconic roles. When he read the script, he noticed that the character’s dialect was a bit retro.

“When I first read the script I was confused and I was like ‘What the hell? Why is this brother talking like he is from the seventies?’ I was like this is another stereotypical brother role – here the white man has gone and done [it] again,” he said.

But he changed his mind after reading the book the film was based on. Additionally, he became more familiar with Aronofsky’s work, and was eager to be a part of his filmography. Wayans wanted the role so much that he screened several times for the picture, and even lost days of sleep because of it.

“I just wanted to work with Darren and then I got the script and it all sort of locked in for me. It was not easy Darren, the bastard, made me audition five times and I when I auditioned I wouldn’t sleep for two or three days, I wouldn’t wash and I just went back to performing arts high school mode I was like ‘I want this,’” he recalled.

In the end, Wayans was pleased to see that shooting Requiem for a Dream more than lived up to expectations.