Interview

WAYANS: What’s your slogan for life?

TATUM: Good friends and beautiful futures.

WAYANS: You’re a poetic little mother—

TATUM: [laughs] Naw, man . . . I write, but I don’t write poetry. I don’t rhyme or anything like that.

WAYANS: [laughs] So now that you’re on your way to being successful, what do you think success is?

TATUM: My bar for being successful is being able to do movies that really mean something to me and being able to make a living off of that. Playing a character that allows me to play around with some of the feelings I have inside of myself and explore them—and maybe put them to rest a little bit, or at least come to terms with them—feels successful to me. I think it’s about believing in what you do.

WAYANS: So, last question: Has there been anybody who just didn’t believe you’d amount to anything or who was such an obstacle in your life who you’d like to say something to now?

TATUM: Probably everyone in my high school who was a senior when I was a sophomore. They would just pick on me to no end. So to them, I’d like to say, “How do you like me now,
bitches?” 

Marlon Wayans is an actor, screenwriter, and producer.

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