"People call us nepo babies. I embrace it": Damon Wayans Jr. on his dad, family legacy in Hollywood

Damon Wayans Jr. says his new CBS show "Poppa's House," in which he plays opposite his dad, comedy legend Damon Wayans, and serves as a writer on, may be his funniest job ever. "Something funny happens literally every day," Wayans Jr. explained to me on "Salon Talks." "From when we rehearse, to the table read. We're laughing the entire time.”

On the show, Wayans Jr. plays Junior, an aspiring director who's working at his father-in-law’s company while waiting for his dream to take off. Wayans Sr. stars as Poppa, a legendary radio host who does not quite have the language to speak to a younger audience. His popularity is declining so they hire Dr. Ivy Reed, played by Essence Atkins, to come in, cohost and woke things up. The comedy lives between the parallels of the two men, the one who was trying to change so that he can make it, and the one who has made it, but has to change to stay relevant.

Wayans Jr., also known from "New Girl," "Shrinking" and "Happy Endings," is from the funniest family in Hollywood. You can look at his face and know immediately who his father is, in addition to being the nephew of Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Kim Wayans and Marlon Wayans. “People call us nepo babies, and I embrace it.” Wayans Jr. said, “I like the idea of my family working their a**es off to make sure that I can come in, and potentially work my a** off because they'll let you in to see you, but they won't keep calling you back if you're not good.”

Watch my "Salon Talks" episode with Damon Wayans Jr. here, or read a Q&A of our conversation below to hear more about "Poppa’s House," his three favorite Wayans' projects and why he's invested in the next generation of Wayans entertainers.

The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Take us to the very beginning of “Poppa's House.”

The story my dad's been telling, this is actually true, is that he was having empty nest syndrome. There was a house that was available across the street from my house. We all went over there, me, him and my kids. My wife. The house was nice, and my wife kept going, "Oh, well, when you're bad, we're sending all you guys over to Poppa's house."

It gave my dad anxiety and so he didn't get the house, because he didn't want to be across from us, and having all my kids at his house.

How many kids do you have?

I got six, man, I've got a lot. I have half a Nick Cannon amount of kids.

We're excited to see you in this new role. How does it feel?

I love it. It was a really great thing to happen for my father and I. I'm happy that not only do we have a show together, but we have a really good relationship outside of the show. And I feel like that kind of lends to the authenticity of the characters that we play. That chemistry, you can't manufacture it.

Is it difficult to have a good relationship? I just imagine, even with your whole family dynamic and setup, that the Thanksgiving table is probably kind of tough.

You've got to get there early or else you will not eat because there's a lot of us. We like to meet up just for the sake of it. We meet up all the time, just having family get-togethers, making each other laugh and hugging each other. Nothing like family.

What's the funniest thing that happened on set or in the writers' room so far?

I couldn't tell you; something funny happens literally every day. From the table read, to rehearsing, to shooting, every week there's something funny. We're laughing the entire time. Every week is just a blast. And it gets funnier and funnier, every frickin' week.

The [writers'] room is like, you can't even breathe. You're crying, laughing. A lot of stuff we probably can't put into the show because we're just riffing and saying things that CBS would never let us say – but some stuff gets in. That's what I love about the show, we're pushing that envelope. CBS is letting us spread our wings.

I always wondered why you didn't play the role of Junior on “My Wife and Kids.”

I didn't want to be an actor back then, I wanted to be an animator. I used to draw all the time. I think my dad did bring it up potentially, but I hadn't acted before. I think he just wanted somebody that knew how to actually do the job. George was great, shout out to George Gore. He the man. I love George. I think he did Junior justice, but that [character] was like a weird version of me. It's not like who I really am.

You were a writer on “My Wife and Kids,” though. Do you feel like that 30-minute sitcom has evolved dramatically since then?

Yeah, they are working in more drama. I think that's good storytelling. I think audiences have gotten smarter when it comes to storytelling. I think they expect the drama, they expect characters that are grounded in reality. There's a way to do both. There's a way to give really hard laughs, but also bring in relatable, dramatic storylines. And I think that we're doing that really well.

Let's get into Damon, your character on the show. He's optimistic, he’s ambitious, he's going to be this filmmaker, but as of now, he's trying to find his footing. If he were one of your friends in real life, what kind of advice would you give him?

I would tell him to really come up with a game plan. I think that's his problem, he knows where he wants to be in life but he just doesn't really know how to get there. When you don't know the way to get to where you want to be, it kind of leaves you in this limbo, and I think he's in this limbo right now. My advice would be, "Just sit down with me, draw out a plan and execute it."

Poppa is in a similar situation because he's at a crossroads. He's old school, and he has to be forced to try to fit into this new reality. You guys were comedians for a long time so I know you saw culture change. Have real-life conversations around the way comedy has changed become a part of creating Poppa for the show?

Yeah. We actually were experimenting with the title for the show. It's “Poppa's House” now, but we were experimenting with calling it “Raising Damon.” On first glance, you think, "Oh, it's about Poppa raising his son, Junior." Then when you start watching the show, you realize that there's some areas where Poppa has to grow. 

That's what I love about the old school/new school aspect of the show. It's like, “Is the old school way of disciplining better for children? Or is the new school way of disciplining better for children? Or is the best way somewhere in the middle?” I think we explore those questions really well, and Poppa grows from those questions.

I can't wait for people to see it, really. We've been working in a vacuum. We've got 11 episodes shot already. I can't wait for people to see the show, and go on this journey with us, and learn these family dynamics, and fall in love with the characters.

What's it like for a kid in the Wayans family who decides to go into comedy?

It's, “Are you willing to put in the work that it takes to go on this journey?” It's not an easy journey. People call us nepo babies, and I embrace it. I like the idea of my family working their a**es off to make sure that I can come in and potentially work my a** off because they'll let you in to see you, but they won't keep calling you back if you're not good.

What they do is, if they know that you're serious about it, if you're showing that you're serious about it, they'll give you great advice. They're open books. They really are very supportive of all of us. There's a lot of writers in my family that are Wayans, there's a lot of aspiring actors. My daughter is an aspiring actor. She does stand-in work on “Poppa's House.” She's a great writer as well, so I feel like she's definitely got the goods. My cousin, Chaunté Wayans, wonderful stand-up, hilarious. Great writer, as well. Whatever the first generation can do to help that journey, they do. They use it.

I read that you used a fake name when you started doing stand-up. How did that go?

That was a mistake. I wanted to be good at stand-up on my own merits. I didn't want to just walk on there, saying, "This is Damon Wayans' son." So, I go up there as Kyle Green, which is my middle name, and my grandma's maiden name. Then people used to always yell out, "Man, you look just like your damn daddy," right in the middle of my set. So eventually, I just got rid of the alias, and it was like, "Hey, I'm Damon Junior." I didn't do Damon Wayans Junior, I just did Damon Junior.

Is there a shorthand for working with family on set that makes the connection easier for you?

This is my dad's baby, right? He created this show. I definitely helped develop it, but it's his, ultimately. I defer to him, but he's also very collaborative. He's always open to hearing a good idea. Funniest wins, or best idea wins.

We even bring in the other actors in, to be like, "Oh, how would you say that? Is it better for you to say it like that?" Then we'll rewrite it. Essence Atkins, she's a wonderful actress, huge comedic talent. Tetona Jackson plays my wife on the show. They sit in, and we all will rewrite during the rewrites, and they give their two cents. It's great, it's so collaborative and it's so funny. It's such an easy process.

You seem to be still connected to your castmates from “New Girl” and “Happy Endings” too. 

Sometimes jobs are just jobs. I've done jobs where I don't talk to the people afterwards, and I have a great time with them during the job. But then sometimes there's certain people that you think you'll be in their lives for the rest of your lives. All the “New Girl” guys, we talk every day. I'm still really close with all the “Happy Endings” guys as well. Those two shows were just kind of instrumental to my career, and they were my first two shows coming into the game. Those relationships are just lasting. 

If you make me laugh, I am going to be friends with you forever. That's just how it is. All those people make me laugh constantly. If you genuinely make me laugh, I'm not doing the polite laugh, if I'm belly laughing, and I have little tears coming down my eyes? Besties.

You grew up around Black comedy legends and are a part of that tradition, but you also have mainstream success. How does one navigate those worlds? 

It's just that's how I was raised. I've always been on both sides. I went to my elementary school; it was all Black. Then I went to an all-white middle and high school. I've been comfortable in both worlds my whole life, and so I don't really feel like I have to turn a switch on and off. I just love both.

Funny is funny. Funny transcends race. There are things that are funnier in different areas, but for the most part I think people just enjoy laughing and enjoy comedy. I have a very mixed bag of people who I think are super funny to me. My top five comedians are Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Patrice O'Neal – a lot of dead guys – Mitch Hedberg, Chappelle. Tony Roberts is a really funny physical comedian, to me. Actor-wise, Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell. I have a mixed bag of who I think are funny, and who influenced me.

What are your top three Wayans' family projects?

All right. So, top three, and in no order. “Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood,” “Major Payne,” “A Low Down Dirty Shame.” These are movies that I've watched, over and over and over again.

That's a fire list. I have: “Don't be a Menace,” “In Living Color,” –   

Oh, I thought you meant movies? You did say projects, but I assumed movies. 

Then I have “Blankman,” when you were a little kid.

That was going to be my third. But then I was like, two of my dad's projects? That's like hella bias. It's like my sperm donor, you know what I mean?

What's next for you?

I have this game show that I'm going to be shooting, right after we wrap on “Poppa's House.” Shooting that in Mexico, it's called “Raid the Cage.” It's about stealing stuff. They have this giant room full of these things, like Birkin bags, shoes signed by Michael Jordan, cars. They have all this stuff, and you get a certain amount of time to grab as many things as you can, and get out of the cage before it closes, or else you lose everything.

Then I have a movie coming out on Netflix in February, so, look out for that, too. It's called “Kind of Pregnant.” It's about a woman who sees how well pregnant women get treated, and so she fakes being pregnant to get the treatment.