Melvin Van Peebles is the stuff of legend. Maybe you’ve seen one of the films he scripted, directed, produced, or starrred in, or maybe you’ve read some of his novels. Maybe you’ve followed his son Mario’s career, too – including the movie Badass that Mario wrote, produced, and directed, a half documentary/half homage to his father Melvin’s 1971 film, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.
I’ve seen a lot of Melvin’s work, and meeting the legend himself was an absolute pleasure. While we only had a few minutes together for the shoot, we were able to talk about film, his home in Paris, and how absolutely cool it was that he could produce that cigar (half smoked) from his pocket while having his portrait made. Melvin, I’m going to take you up on that invite for a coffee in Paris one day – I mean it.