‘BMF’: Demetrius ‘Lil Meech’ Flenory Jr. Revealed the Moment He Found out His Dad Is Big Meech
BMF just ended its explosive first season. The jaw-dropping Starz drama series follows Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory (Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr.) and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory (Da’Vinchi). The Flenory brothers were born and raised in Detroit. Amid their family’s impoverished circumstances, the brothers began selling drugs on the streets of Detroit in the late ’80s.
By the time they were arrested in the early 2000s, Big Meech and Southwest T were two of the biggest drug traffickers in the country. Though he portrays his father on the show, Lil Meech had no idea about his father’s legacy until he was a teen.
Lil Meech learned a lot about himself by portraying Big Meech on ‘BMF’
Though he had no acting experience, executive producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson knew that Lil Meech could portray his father, so he put him in acting class for two years. In the end, the 21-year-old’s hard work allowed him to persevere in his audition. Portraying his father has also allowed Lil Meech to learn a great deal about himself.
“I learned a lot about myself; I learned that I had a lot of my dad’s traits without even me knowing,” he told The Observer. “My family members were telling me that they see him in me. Some of my family members got to come on set and actually get to watch us in action, and they were just in awe, tearing up. It was a beautiful moment, so I believe that everybody loves it and loves how they’re being played and love the whole story within itself.”
Lil Meech revealed the moment he realized his dad was Big Meech
BMF was legendary in Detroit and in the music industry, specifically hip-hop. However, Lil Meech was just five when his father and uncle were sent to prison. Therefore, he didn’t really understand who they were until much later in life.
“I really didn’t understand until I started my teenage years,” Meech explained to Hot New Hip-Hop. “I’m hearing the rappers say his name in songs and I’m going out and I’m just running into all type of different people and they tellin’ me what my dad did for them. Because my family still wasn’t telling me as I grew up, like, ‘Your daddy is Big Meech.'”
Instead, the actor discovered who his father was through friends at school. “I’m findin’ out how big he is through people I’m around and stuff I see on the internet,” he explained. “I grew up not knowing who my dad was. When I was in private school, I remember my homie showin’ me Wikipedia pages of my dad. Like, ‘You know this your daddy?'”
‘BMF’ creator Randy Huggins has one issue with Lil Meech’s portrayal of his father
A Detroitor, Huggins grew up in the same neighborhoods and in the same time period as Big Meech and Southwest T. From the beginning, he has wanted the series to be as authentic as possible. “I took some liberties, but everything there is based on a story,” Huggins told Urban Hollywood 411. “Obviously, you can’t have people’s names in there. Obviously, some of the places may have changed. I don’t think there’s a character in there, that I hadn’t heard of,” he said. “I may have to take a creative liberty to make an art-pop a little bit more. I may have to take a creative license to make a scene funnier than it may have been, but that’s just part of telling a story. This is not a documentary.”
Though 50 Cent pushed for Lil Meech to portray his father, since they look so much alike, Huggins was skeptical. “Lil Meech doesn’t sound like a Detroiter,” Huggins joked to TV Line. “He sounds like he’s from Miami because that’s where he’s from.” Luckily, the younger Flenory has proven that he was up for the challenge and could take on the role.
