Mario & Mandela Van Peebles on We The Party

There are a number of legacies in Hollywood. Whether it is Martin and Charlie Sheen, or John Voit and Angelina Jolie, Francis Ford Coppola and Nicolas Cage, Jerry and Ben Stiller. But the number of African American Legacies are few and far between. Besides the new legacy started by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and the father daughter combo of Sanaa and Stan Lathan, you can not point to too many families of color who have passed down opportunities. There is one family who now spans 3 generations, starting with the eldest Melvin Van Peeble who broke into Hollywood in 1971 with his blaxploitation film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss Song which he starred and directed in and cast his son Mario Van Peebles to play his characters younger self in the film. Mario Van Peebles took that head start and went on to forge a great career himself in front of and behind the scenes, both starring in a number of films and directing such films as New Jack City, Posse, and now We The Party. Mario would mirror his father by g