Damon Wayans Sr. Always Knew Son Damon Jr. Was 'Special,' but Says Son Michael Is the Real Family 'Genius' (Exclusive)

Meredith WilshereSat, May 2, 2026 at 5:58 PM UTC

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Damon Wayans, Jr. (left) and Damon Wayans, Sr. (right)Credit: Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty -

Damon Wayans Sr. encouraged his son Damon Wayans Jr. to pursue comedy to support his young family

Michael Wayans, meanwhile, prefers behind-the-scenes work in Hollywood and has written for Poppa's House starring his father and brother

Damon Sr. reflects on his bond with Eddie Murphy and his lasting friendships with In Living Color castmates

Damon Wayans Sr. had a feeling that his children would go into the family business of comedy.

"My son Junior, he's special. He's been called 'pancakes' because everybody loves pancakes; he's just a good dude on top of that," Wayans tells PEOPLE of his eldest son, Damon Wayans Jr.

"Damon will wear the same outfit — in T-shirts, jeans and sneakers — and you would think he doesn't have money because he just... like that's how he's comfortable," he adds.

The 65-year-old says he wanted Damon Jr. to go into comedy after welcoming his first child at age 20, telling him, "'I'm not supporting your kids, so you need to learn the family business.' "

Mike Wayans, Damon Wayans Sr.Credit: Amy Graves/WireImage

The In Living Color actor's second son, Michael Wayans, is also "incredibly talented," he notes.

"He's actually more talented than Damon just in terms of natural ability. He'll write, but he doesn't want to perform," the proud dad explains. "Michael used to, as a kid, walk around with books on quantum theory in his back pocket. He's a genius."

He shares that the issue for Michael is that "everything comes easy. 'I can do that. I can do that.' His Achilles heel is stand-up comedy. He's scared to death to do it because what he knows is you're only as good as your last joke. And so you can think you're funny, but like when you're doing it, and you can't cheat the process, you're gonna be unfunny until one day the light comes on, and now you're funny."

The 41-year-old has taken more of a behind-the-scenes role in Hollywood, writing for Poppa's House, which starred both his dad and older brother.

Damon Sr. shares his two sons and daughters, Cara and Kyla, with his ex-wife, Lisa Thorner, whom he was married to from 1984 until their divorce in 2000.

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The My Wife and Kids actor also reflects on the time his family spent with Eddie Murphy, who he says always praised their family dynamic.

"Growing up, Eddie Murphy would take us on boat rides, and I would be the only one with family on the boat. It's me, Junior, his mom, and his little brother, and everybody else is just a wild party, and Eddie would always take time to come over and go, 'Man, I want what you got. This is so beautiful.' "

"Now he's got 10 kids, and I know that it's something he always wanted, so I'm so happy for him that he actually has peace," Damon Sr. says. "He had what he wanted, and it wasn't being the biggest star in the world, because he was already the biggest star in the world. That gets boring after a while."

Damon Wayans Sr. and daughter Cara Mia WayansCredit: Johnny Nunez/WireImage

In addition to his family relationships, Wayans Sr. still has strong ties with his In Living Color costars, whom he also considers family.

"It's a bunch of people in the In Living Color cast, and the interesting thing about going on this journey is that we're truly a family. If I see David Alan Grier, we pick up where we left off, like yesterday. It's the same thing with Jim Carey, but they go off, and they do these movies for two, three years, and you don't see them, but true family is when we're in a room together, we joke."

The actor — who is partnering with Genentech and Diatribe to launch the ‘All Eyes on DME’ Campaign to spread awareness about diabetes — jokes that the first thing he's going to do when he sees Carey is "ask him about his face."

"That's the first thing that's gonna come out of my mouth, and he'll laugh, and that's what we do," the actor shares. "There's nothing sacred, and that's the beauty of comedic friendships."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”