PHOTOGRAPHY Julian R. Carmona @ ImageFocus+

There are only a handful of Latino actors who rightfully qualify as living legends. And you’re looking at one of them right here on this page. Long before Latinos were even recognized as a group in Hollywood, Cheech Marin was literally and figuratively blazing a trail on the Big Screen, as part of the iconic duo, Cheech and Chong. Yet since then his legend has only grown, thanks to his persistence, hard work, and ability to reinvent himself. The loveable pothead is all grown up, but guess what? He’s still a pothead! Except he’s the most motivated, responsible, respectable pothead you’ll ever meet. ¡Arriba Cheech!

Cheech and Chong fans around the world were happy to hear about your reunion. What was it that brought you guys back together?
Money. [Laughs]

It’s refreshing to get an honest answer.
Yeah, money and we like each other and like being on stage. And hey it was an offer we couldn’t refuse. They offered us a lot to do it and we worked through our differences and came back. We’re having fun out there. I missed it in a way, you know, going from town to town and finding out what the pulse of America is. Because you’re in a new city everyday—so that part I missed.

You guys are now touring on your Get It Legal tour. Apart from the money, what is most significant for you about this tour? Would it be getting to reunite with Chong or…?
Yeah, that’s the best thing, working with Tommy. We’re doing a new show on this tour. I love to see how it grows and changes and meanders every night from this and that. That’s been a lot of fun. That’s a process…when you’re out there banging it on stage man. That’s fun. [Laughs] It’s a lot of fun. It’s always fun working with Tommy. When we’re on stage it’s like a force that we can’t help. At this particular time it’s really cool because…we call this tour the Get It Legal tour because we’re close to getting it legal. We need more pushes. We’re right at the…I can see the border, you know. I think marijuana should be legalized. And Mexicans should be legalized. A lot of things should be legalized right now. We have the administration for it and we have the sentiment of the country behind us, so let’s keep pushing.

You and Chong have an animated movie coming out. What can you tell us about that?
It’s coming out soon. It’s really good. It’s an animation of our early record bits and they’re hilarious. I hadn’t listened to those suckers in a long time. They’re really funny. The animation’s great.

So the animation was made to go along with old records?
Yeah, the records. They made records in those days, those black round things.

Were you guys actually high when you were filming the Cheech and Chong movies?
No, man. That’s hard work. You gotta be focused for a long period of time. We were acting.

Will there ever be a new Cheech and Chong movie?
Yeah, there might. We’re getting close to it. We’re kind of circling and…hopefully, hopefully.

Do you think pot will be legalized in the next 10 years?
Oh yeah, absolutely. I think way shorter than that. I think really four to five years max—maybe three years.

I read on Wikipedia that your father was a cop, is that correct?
Yeah. LAPD, 30 years dude.

So how did he feel about your movies?
It was cool as long as I gave him free shit. [Laughs]

So he really was cool with it?
Oh yeah. Cops were our biggest fans. They saw exactly who we were—these two clowns—‘cause they deal with clowns every day. And we were telling the funny side of what was happening. They dug it. They were our biggest fans, no shit.

So what’s the highest number of joints you’ve ever smoked in one session?
[Laughs] three billion. I smoked three billion joints one night. It was great. They were big fatties, every single one of them.

My friend, who we’ll call “Ron,” starts making animal sounds and acting like a monkey when he smokes too much. Could this be causing any brain damage?
He just give him bananas. He’ll be fine.

If you could choose one person in the world to smoke out with, who would that be?
Geez…I don’t know. I’d probably like to burn one with Obama.

Yeah, that’d be pretty interesting, huh?
Yeah…I’ve met him before. I was impressed with him. He was cool—really smart guy, really personable…you know, took interest in you. That’s what politicians are supposed to do and he did it well.

Did you ever light up a fattie with Don Johnson?
Never! Not in a million years. Don Johnson would never light up a fattie. He’d light up a skinny, but never a fattie.

A lot of people don’t know that you are an avid Chicano art collector. Who would you rank as the favorite artist in your collection?
Probably Carlos Almaraz. I can say that because he’s dead, so it won’t piss everybody off.

What are some of the most recent pieces that you’ve added to your collection?
I’ve just been buying pictures of Mexican meat by this guy in Corpus Christi. His name is Joe Peña. They’re just like old masters of Chicano meat…it’s like tripas and lenguas and cesos. And they’re cool. I mean it’s our tradition…and then classical art, especially the old masters. Even Monet, I was looking at a piece of my Monet that is like a big rib eye. They like meat. Mexicans like meat. It’s in our DNA.

Hispanic Americans have come a long way during your lifetime, yet we still have more to overcome and achieve. What do you feel is the most important issue facing the Latino community today?
Education. Education is the root of everything. It’s the lever. It’s the machine. It’s the car, it’s the bus, it’s the plane that takes you there. The more education you have, the more prepared you are to do a variety of things…to contribute to your family, yourself, the economy and the world in general. Education, education, education.

To catch Cheech in action on his Get It Legal tour, check out www.cheechandchongtour.com

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