At fourteen, Mario Van Peebles, son of revolutionary filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles, made his acting debut in his father’s 1971 release, Sweet Sweetback’s Badaasssss Song. In the film, he begrudgingly (though you’d never know it) played Sweetback at various monumental moments in his youth, including the loss of his virginity. A sex scene would be horrifying enough without the added terror of being an adolescent, not to mention being in front of a crew that included your own father. To remain cost-effective during production, Melvin also insisted that Mario scrap his hard-earned afro. In the end, the mighty afro reigned supreme, a wig was purchased, and eventually, Mario began to see the lessons his father was offering up.

Mario went on to study at Columbia University and sharpen his business teeth working for the New York City mayoral office during the Ed Koch era before establishing himself as an actor and director with films like New Jack City, Panther, and Posse. Stridently aware that his father’s legacy deserved to be divulged and understood, he cowrote, directed, produced, and starred in Baadasssss, a film that recreated the making of Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, and addressed the often turbulent relationship between a father and son.

Mario Van Peebles and I met for breakfast at a North Hollywood diner. He is energetic, extraordinarily polite, and smells fantastic. Yes, how terribly unprofessional of me. But it must be said. While he is exceedingly well-read and fervent on a variety of subjects, you cannot ignore the fact that you are immediately at ease around him, as he smells familiar, like bergamot and Ivory soap.

—Amy Güth

I. “IF WE SHOW THE DOMINANT CULTURE THAT WE’RE ‘COLORED’ AND NOT ‘BLACK,’ THEN THEY’LL LET US COME IN AND SIT AT THEIR LUNCH COUNTERS.”

THE BELIEVER: Were you hesitant to play your own father in Baadasssss, or was that something you knew you wanted to do from the beginning?

MARIO VAN PEEBLES: I realized the only way I was going to make this film and not turn it into cinematic Wonder Bread was to do it myself. I know one guy who has studied this sucker for years: me. And I know one actor who is going to be there on time, not give me any shit, know his lines, not be high, and not be snorting something: me.And I can get me to work for free anytime I want me to. Because me has got to be there. I mean, after all these years of me sleeping with the director, it’s got to pay off! [Laughs]

BLVR: You used some footage from ...