Mario Van Peebles made a Hip-Hop and cultural impact with his 1991 movie “New Jack City” and continues to be one of Hollywood’s premiere Actors and Film Directors.
Now, Mario is engaged in many different projects that bring together Hip-Hop, Hollywood, and black culture as a whole.
In Part1 of our Hip-Hop Wired Exclusive, Mario speaks on a variety of topics including working with a dedicated 50 lb weight losing 50 cent, what he thinks of the Tyler Perry and Spike Lee nonsense, and how he prepares for influential roles like Malcom X.
Speaking on working with 50 Cent in the All Things Fall Apart film, Mario jokes about 50 cent’s weight loss saying,
“He had to lose a lot weight and had to lose 50 lbs, and I didn’t know if he can do it because I had to lose 20 pounds when I played Malcom X in Ali. So the next time I saw the brother, I called him 25 cent because he lost so much weight.”
Mario also spoke on the Spike Lee and Tyler Perry feud, and the portrayal of Blacks in film.
“We definitely need to see us not being big, silly, and ignorant. The tragedy is not so much of Tyler’s work, but we’re not
