Marlon Wayans shared a heartwarming story during a recent interview with Essence, explaining that he never got married because he always wanted his mother to be the No.1 woman in his life. The actor said he expressed his love to his mother while she was on her death bed.

"I say, ‘I’m 47 years old and I’ve never been married because I always wanted you to be my number one girl.’ My mother turned over, she looked at me, she grabbed my hand, and she pulled me close to her," Marlon told Essence. "I said ‘I know, I love you too’ and I gave her a kiss and I said, ‘I’ll see you soon, but not that soon because I got a s**t load of life to live.’ She laughed in pain, and I gave her a kiss, and those were my last words to my mom.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ESSENCE (@essence)

Elvira Wayans, the mother of 10 children, died at the age of 81 in 2020, USA TODAY reported.

"Today I celebrate for the both of (us) In the midst of this hurt," Marlon wrote after losing his mother, adding that her death shattered him into 1,000 pieces but he's putting himself "back together piece by piece."

Marlon was in a relationship with Angela Zackery from 1992 to 2013, and the couple has two children together but never married.

“I like things to bend and not break, and I feel like when you get married, you have to get divorced in order to either be separated or together,” Marlon said. “I like friendships because you just learn each other and you just grow and you just get better.”

The New York native adds that he finds peace by choosing to stay away from marriage.

"You know what I need? I need peace. You know what you need? Peace," he said. "Love is a vacation. I don’t want to give nobody issues. I want to give you smiles and I hope you want to give me the same. All the other stuff is just noise and stuff that we’re battling. I just want to smile. I just want to laugh. I just want to eat well, I just want to travel, I just want to be loved, I just want to be hugged. I just want to hug you. I just want all the good stuff. All that other nonsense? It’s for the birds, man.”

Marlon, the youngest of 10 siblings, has produced the series In Living Color, The Wayans Bros, My Wife and Kids, the Scary Movie film franchise and the movie White Chicks.

Speaking with Essence, Marlon said he hesitated to play the role of Ted White in the new Aretha Franklin biopic RESPECT because he didn’t want to portray a villain. But the actor eventually gained a new perspective on the relationship between the two characters.

“People often forget the fact that it was something about that man that made that woman fall in love with him," he said. "There was something about him that made her trust him. There was something about him that was good. No matter what bad he was, he helped build her in a certain way to see her own life. He’s a vessel for her greatness. I just wanted to honor that about their relationship because I wanted to honor her as the queen and I wanted to honor women."

Elvira Wayans

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week