Damon Wayans: what films influenced the actor's career (14 photos)

Recently there was an article about Marlon Wayans - the youngest of the famous black brothers. And today we will talk about his older brother Damon, who is known to many of our viewers from the film "Major Payne".





Brief biography

Damon Wayans was born in 1960 to a supermarket manager (father) and a social worker (mother). As you may have already understood, his parents were not connected with the cinema in any way, but his older brother Keenen Ivory Wayans was the first to "tread this path", thanks to which his three brothers (Damon, Sean and Marlon) were also able to get into the cinema.



The family did not have much money, especially since they had many children. Therefore, Damon decided to drop out of school to try to earn money in order to help his parents. And the most interesting thing is that Damon succeeded. When he was about 16 years old, he began performing his stand-up comedy in various clubs, and his performances were quite popular.





Brothers Shawn, Marlon, Damon and Keenen Ivory Wayans

As a result, in 1984, the 24-year-old stand-up comedian was noticed, thanks to which he got into the cinema.

Beginning of a career

Having noticed the talent in the young comedian, Damon was invited to play a small role of a guy with bananas in the film "Beverly Hills Cop" with Eddie Murphy in the lead role, to which he happily agreed.



Beverly Hills Cop

After this, Damon was increasingly invited to other films, such as "Hollywood Layout", "Roxanne", "Another World", etc. But it was hard to call it a success, since his roles there were small.

In 1988, Keenen Ivory Wayans's directorial "I'll Get You, Motherfucker" happened, where he invited some members of his family, namely his brothers Damon, Sean and Marlon, as well as his sister Kim.



The film did quite well at the box office, collecting $13 million with a budget of $3 million. Thanks to this, Damon, like his brother Keenen, became much more noticeable than before.

Success

And in 1990, Damon got into his brother Keenen Ivory Wayans' new show "In Vivid Colors", where some of his relatives appeared again, as well as the aspiring actor Jim Carrey.



In bright colors

This series was considered a hit in the USA, and it was thanks to it that many actors became noticeable to Hollywood directors and producers. And Damon Wayans was no exception, because after this film he was invited to play one of the main roles in the film "The Last Boy Scout" together with Bruce Willis himself.

But despite the fact that the film "The Last Boy Scout" is a very popular film, and the main role was played by Bruce Willis, for Damon this film could not be called too successful.



The Last Boy Scout

Yes, the film made money at the box office, grossing $113 million on a $43 million budget, but Damon's role was significantly reduced and rewritten. He really didn't like that the script was constantly being rewritten for Bruce, and in the end they made him a stereotypical black guy who was only needed to dilute the movie with his comedy.

Thankfully, despite the conflicts on the set, everything worked out, and it didn't affect anyone's career. Moreover, in 1992, the film "Money, Money, More Money" was released, where Damon Wayans not only played the main role, but also produced this film and wrote the entire script for it.



More Money

And fortunately for Damon, the film turned out to be quite successful, because it collected 40 million dollars in the worldwide box office with a budget of 15 million. And this does not include the proceeds from the sale of videotapes.

Flops

In 1994, there was a rather unpleasant flop of the comedy "Blankman", where Damon not only played the main role, but also wrote the script for the film, produced it and personally selected the director.



Blankman

Studio bosses allocated $30 million for this film in the hope that Damon would easily recoup it, but this time there was no miracle, as the film collected only $7 million at the box office.

In the same 1994, one of the most recognizable films with Damon Wayans in our country was released. We are talking about the film "Major Payne", which became a kind of remake of the old film "The Private Wars of Major Benson" (1956). And again, here Damon not only played the main role of Payne himself, but also participated in writing the script. And if you think that the film was successful, then you are mistaken.



Major Payne

Damon made a big bet on this film. He persistently prepared for this role, having undergone full training under the guidance of a US Marine officer.

Only with a budget of 30 million dollars (5 of which went personally to Damon) the film collected 30.1 million at the box office, which, of course, is a complete failure of the film. Many, of course, note that the success of the film was largely hampered by the films "Pulp Fiction" and "Bad Boys", which were released at the same time as "Major Payne" and lured away the filming of viewers.

But this failure greatly upset Damon Wayans, which is why he decided to no longer engage in producing and writing scripts.

In 1996, he received the lead role in the film "Bulletproof", where his partner was comedian Adam Sandler. But this film was also a failure. With a budget of 25 million dollars, the film collected only 22.6 million at the box office.



Bulletproof

That same year, two more films with Damon's participation failed. These were the films "Basketball Fever" and "The Great White Hype". Such failures undermined Damon even more, and the actor began to be offered fewer and fewer roles.

For some time, Damon went off to conquer TV series, such as "Damon" (1998) and "My Wife and Kids" (2001). But, unfortunately, this did not bring success to the actor either.

And in 2001, Damon got into the musical comedy "Marcy X", but in the end the film hit theaters only in 2003 due to various delays, including the tragedy of September 11, 2001 (the same one with the twin towers).



Marcy X

As a result, the film received very low ratings from both viewers and critics, and also failed miserably at the box office, collecting only 1.6 million dollars with a budget of 20 million. Damon simply could not survive such a failure.

The Death of a Film Career

After such high-profile failures, Damon practically stopped appearing in films, and if he did appear somewhere, it was only as a voice actor or somewhere in the background.

And later he completely tied up with films, migrating to TV series. For example, in 2011 he appeared in the series "Happy Ending", which lasted 3 seasons. But he did not save Weans' career.



Lethal Weapon

In 2016, the series "Lethal Weapon" was released, in which Damon Wayans triumphantly burst in, playing the main role. But after the second season, the ratings deflated so much that Wayans decided to leave it.

To date, the latest project with the participation of Damon Wayans is the series "Happy Together" (2018). And no, this is not a series about Gena Bukin, but a separate American sitcom.

The series itself did not bring success to Damon, and was closed after the first season. Since then, Damon Wayans has not acted anywhere else. Now Damon Wayans mainly continues to do stand-up comedy, and nothing is known about his return to cinema. And even if he wants to return to cinema, it is unlikely that he will be successful there again.