Damon Wayans Jr., the actor and comedian best known for his roles in New Girl and Happy Endings, has built a life off-screen that’s just as dynamic as his Hollywood career. His wife, Samara Saraiva, might not be a household name, but she’s become an integral part of the Wayans family circus. The two first crossed paths at a dinner in Miami, but here’s the twist: Damon was actually supposed to be set up with Samara’s cousin that night.
In a 2020 interview with We Live Entertainment, Damon admitted they didn’t exactly hit it off initially. “We didn’t really click that night,” he said. “They were trying to set me up with her cousin, and me and her just didn’t really get along either. Not in a bad way, just different kinds of people.” Fate had other plans, though. They bumped into each other again at a party, and this time, the chemistry was undeniable. Laughter sealed the deal, and as Damon put it, “We’ve been together ever since.”
Damon Wayans Jr.’s Wife & Children: Inside Their Blended Family of Six
The couple tied the knot around 2016, though Damon has always kept the details of their wedding under wraps. Fast forward to October 2024, and he confirmed on Sherri that they’d been married for eight years. Samara, a woman who clearly knows how to handle the Wayans’ trademark humor, fit right into the family. Damon joked on Sherri that it worked “‘cause her family’s crazy, too.” He described how her family roasted him the first time they met, and he fired right back. “They’re just as goofy. They make jokes all the time about people,” he said.
That same humor even spilled into Damon’s work. During a 2018 BUILD interview, he revealed that he channeled his real-life marriage into his character on Happy Together. “I do put a lot of how I feel about how my character feels about my wife in the show. I pull that from my actual relationship,” he shared.
Their blended family is nothing short of a sitcom premise itself. Damon has six kids, a fact he joked about on Sherri in 2024, calling it “a Biblical amount” of little ones. He shares two daughters, Amara and Aniya, with his ex Aja Metoyer, and he and Samara have a daughter named Berlyn, along with three younger children, including one son. In October 2024, Damon confirmed his youngest, a girl, was 4 years old. Despite keeping their family life private, they’ve made a few public appearances together, such as the Big Hero 6 premiere in 2014, where Samara and some of their young ones joined Damon on the red carpet.
Parenting in the Wayans household sounds like its own comedy sketch. During a shoot in 2024, Damon described his idea of a perfect date night with Samara: “We lie in bed, turn off all the lights, and then we just roast the s— out of our kids up to the point where we’re laughing so hard.”
Samara has been Damon’s steady plus-one at red-carpet events over the years. Before they were married, she accompanied him to the 2014 premiere of Let’s Be Cops, and a decade later, they were still going strong, posing together at the 2024 premiere of Netflix’s Players. Damon’s admiration for his partner hasn’t wavered. Back in 2018, he gushed, “I’m like crazy about my wife. I think she’s awesome and we have a lot of fun together.”
Damon’s own upbringing was steeped in Hollywood legacy as the son of comedy icon Damon Wayans Sr., and he’s passing that torch to his offspring. His father, Damon Sr., has four children of his own: Damon Jr., Michael, Cara Mia, and Kyla, all from his marriage to Lisa Thorner, which ended in 2000. Damon Jr., born November 18, 1982, was practically raised on set, making his acting debut at 11 in his dad’s 1994 film Blankman. Though he initially dreamed of being an animator, he pivoted to comedy, even doing stand-up under the pseudonym Kyle Green.
His career took off with roles in Dance Flick, Happy Endings, and New Girl, and in 2024, he starred alongside his dad in the CBS sitcom Poppa’s House. The father-son chemistry was undeniable. “When we make each other laugh, then it’s infectious,” Damon Jr. told Entertainment Tonight in May 2024.
Michael Wayans, born March 28, 1985, has kept a lower profile but has dabbled in acting (My Wife and Kids, Dance Flick) and music, composing the theme for The Underground. He’s in a long-term relationship with Vanessa Simmons, daughter of Rev Run, and they share a daughter, Ava Marie, born in 2014.
Cara Mia, born April 18, 1987, followed the family into acting (Blankman, Dance Flick) but has also explored painting and writing. She’s a mom of two and once posted a heartfelt tribute to Damon Jr. on Instagram: “He’s also KIND, LOVING, RELIABLE, GENUINE, HILARIOUS, GENEROUS, & my Favorite Oldest Brother!” Kyla, the youngest, born in 1991, has stayed out of the spotlight but appeared in My Wife and Kids as a kid.
The Wayans family tree is as sprawling as their IMDb pages, and Damon Sr. isn’t shy about the quirks that come with it. In an April 2025 interview on Club Shay Shay, he dropped a bombshell: he dated his nephew’s ex-girlfriend, chef Charity Duplechan, in the early 2000s. “Yeah, I was in love with her,” he admitted, comparing it to the Jackson family’s tangled relationships.
“Family gatherings is awkward,” he joked. But through it all, the Wayans clan sticks together, whether it’s on-screen collaborations or roasting each other at home. For Damon Jr. and Samara, that means blending their own big, loud, laughter-filled family into the mix. And if their children inherit even half of that comedic timing, Hollywood better watch out.
