Marlon Wayans Gets Real About Black Representation And Mental Health, Suggests People ‘Stay In Therapy’

'Black people, we often don't deal with our mental health,' the comedian said. 'We laugh at it; we're not taught that.'

Marlon Wayans is championing the need for therapy in the Black community and sharing how much it’s benefitted his overall well-being.

The veteran actor and stand-up comic sat down with Hollywood & Mind on Sept. 12 for an afternoon of important conversations around Black representation and mental health. Reflecting on his 30-year career, his experiences with grief, the pursuit of joy, and his views on spirituality, Wayans passionately emphasized the importance of therapy in his life and the Black community as a whole.

“I’ve done therapy, and I suggest people stay in therapy,” he told Hollywood & Mind founder Cathy Applefeld Olson. “It’s funny… Black people, we often don’t deal with our mental health. We laugh at it; we’re not taught that. I want to use my platform, my voice to tell people, my people, that we need it. It helped me.”

Wayans attributed the grief he experienced when his parents died to why his perspective as an entertainer and the impact he wants to make on the world shifted.

“Have no cap on your dreams,” he told the crowd. “I don’t want to be divisive in anything I do. This world needs laughs, love, and lots of learning, and that’s what I’m here for.”

The White Chicks star also discussed his recent Prime Video stand-up special, Good Grief, where he delved into his struggles with depression following the death of his mother in 2020 and his father three years later.

“My mother’s death broke me into a million pieces. I was shattered,” Wayans revealed. “They couldn’t make a liquor strong enough for me to drink when I lost my mother. When my father died, I slowly put myself back together. When you go through pain and devastation and you put yourself back together, you haven’t lost you, you just found a better you.”

Wayans stars in Jordan Peele’s upcoming psychological horror film, Him, set for release in September 2025. He plays a legendary quarterback who takes a promising young athlete, portrayed by Tyriq Withers, to his secluded compound for training. The comedian credits taking on the lead role in the film as a transformative experience.

“In the movie, I play the greatest quarterback of all time. I went on a journey of what it was to be great and realized as I was building for this character, I was actually building a better version of me,” Wayans shared. “I jumped in a murky pool to find this character because you go to dark places to find characters, and when I was digging for the character Isaiah, I looked up and saw broken Marlon, lying face down, and I was like… Forget that GOAT,” he said, referring to his character. “This one needs your help. And so finding Isaiah helped me find the better version of Marlon.”