Few have had as illustrious of a career in comedy or television as Larry Wilmore, and just as few have experienced the merciless ins and outs of the entertainment industry. The actor, writer, show creator (The PJs, The Bernie Mac Show), and all-around comedic entertainer, went deep in a thoughtful interview with Vulture, offering a fascinating window into the cutthroat, and often racist, ways the industry operates — and also the ways it’s changed.
His career in television, for instance, was first truly established during his time as a writer on the seminal sketch comedy show In Living Color, where he was given an introduction to the industry that would ultimately deviate from the norm: “There were no cultural fences in terms of, ‘Well, you can’t write about that because you’re white,’” Wilmore said. “Nope. All was fair game. It was really you got to bring the funny. It didn’t matter who you were. Keenen [Ivory Wayans, the creator and showrunner] was extremely democratic in terms of that.”
