Mario Van Peebles Quotes & Sayings

I went from being 'Mario who?' to 'Mario baby! — Mario Van Peebles

When I came out to Hollywood, I discovered the perfect place for my creative madness - Cannon Pictures. — Mario Van Peebles

When you make a film that is based in reality, reality will come up all around it. — Mario Van Peebles

My father, Melvin van Peebles, and my mother were both very active politically when I was a kid. The first time I was allowed to stay up late was to attend a demonstration. — Mario Van Peebles

My father told me you have two loves in your life: What you do and the people you're with. — Mario Van Peebles

No matter what color you are, if you mentor some little boy or girl, you make a huge difference in their lives because they then model behavior that leads to success versus modeling behavior that doesn't. — Mario Van Peebles

If you sort of treat the environment in sort of this mechanical, industrial way that there's a disconnect between man and the environment, it's very easy to treat people that way. — Mario Van Peebles

I'm not in business to make money. — Mario Van Peebles

History is written by the winners. The books say the Indians were bad guys and the whites just needed a little land. It's like, Excuse me, let me take your car. I'm discovering it. I'm putting my flag on your windshield. — Mario Van Peebles

In some ways truth is stranger than fiction. — Mario Van Peebles

There is definitely places in America where, if you're born into that environment, your chances of getting out are really, really limited. — Mario Van Peebles

People are now looking at the world in terms of axis of evil and evil-doers and by logical extension good-doers, and that's a very polarised look at good and bad people. Reality is much more complex than that and people can be good and evil on the very same day. — Mario Van Peebles

I had unusual parents. We'd been to Europe. We'd been in the theater. We were sort of like the Addams Family. — Mario Van Peebles

We think birth is a miracle and death is a tragedy, but really they're flip sides of the same coin - anything born is gonna die. — Mario Van Peebles

My dad always said there's four phases in an actor/director's life. There's 'Mario Who?' There's 'Get me Mario!' 'Get me a young Mario,' and 'Mario Who?' — Mario Van Peebles

When young people see movies like 'Gandhi 'or 'JFK,' there is an element of romanticization of these powerful people, and young people often feel a huge distance between their own lives and the lives of these social-change heroes. But the Panthers were flawed-up people from the streets, so it's easier to identify with them. — Mario Van Peebles

If I or any other black can deliver at the box office, I'll get a lot of work. Too many young actors, regardless of their color, try to play an attitude on camera and fail to remember their job is to fit into an entertainment. — Mario Van Peebles