Don Cheadle in IRON MAN 2

Sandra Varner’s Celebrity Profiles

Academy Award® nominee DON CHEADLE (Rhodey) is an award-winning actor of the stage, screen and television.  In 2004, he was honored with an Academy Award® nomination for Best Actor for his work in the searing true-life drama “Hotel Rwanda.”  His portrayal of Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager who saved hundreds from slaughter during Rwanda’s genocidal massacres, also brought him Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award nominations, as well as dual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award nods, one for Best Actor and another as part of the nominated cast.  In 2005, he joined the ensemble cast in Paul Haggis’ Oscar®-winning Best Picture “Crash,” on which Cheadle also served as a producer.  He earned a BAFTA Award nomination for his performance in that movie, in addition to sharing in a SAG Award for Outstanding Motion Picture Cast. 

He most recently starred in Antoine Fuqua’s “Brooklyn’s Finest,” “Hotel for Dogs,” “Traitor,” in which Cheadle also served as a producer, the critically acclaimed drama “Reign Over Me” with Adam Sandler, and “Talk to Me,” a biopic about Ralph “Petey” Greene, an ex-con who became a popular 1960s talk show host and community activist.  Cheadle also executive-produced the film, which was directed by Kasi Lemmons.

Cheadle previously worked with director Steven Soderbergh in “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Ocean’s Twelve” and “Ocean’s Thirteen”; the Oscar®-winning drama “Traffic,” for which he shared in a SAG Award for Outstanding Motion Picture Cast; and “Out of Sight.”  His film credits also include Brett Ratner’s “After the Sunset”; “The Assassination of Richard Nixon” with Naomi Watts and Sean Penn; “The United States of Leland”; Dominic Sena’s “Swordfish” with John Travolta and Halle Berry; Brett Ratner’s “The Family Man” with Nicolas Cage; Brian De Palma’s “Mission to Mars”; “Bulworth,” directed by and starring Warren Beatty; Paul Thomas Anderson’s critically acclaimed “Boogie Nights”; “Volcano” with Tommy Lee Jones; and John Singleton’s “Rosewood,” for which Cheadle earned an NAACP Image Award nomination.  Cheadle’s breakout performance had been in the 1995 crime drama “Devil in a Blue Dress,” for which he had been named the year’s Best Supporting Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Cheadle has also been recognized for his work on the small screen.  In 1999, he won a Golden Globe Award and received an Emmy Award nomination for his portrayal of Sammy Davis Jr. in the HBO movie “The Rat Pack.”  That same year, he garnered a second Emmy nomination for his starring role in HBO’s “A Lesson Before Dying,” based on Ernest J. Gaines’ best-selling novel.  He earned a third Emmy nomination for his work in Showtime’s “Things Behind the Sun,” directed by Allison Anders.  Cheadle more recently received his fourth Emmy nod for his recurring guest role on NBC’s hit series “ER.”  His additional television credits include CBS’s live broadcast of the Cold War drama “Fail Safe,” directed by Stephen Frears; HBO’s “Rebound: The Legend of Earl ‘The Goat’ Manigault”; and a regular role on the David E. Kelley series “Picket Fences.”

An accomplished stage actor, Cheadle originated the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Top Dog/Underdog” under the direction of George C. Wolfe at New York’s Public Theatre.  His theatre work also includes productions of “Leon, Lena and Lenz,” “The Grapes of Wrath,” “Liquid Skin,” “Cymbeline,” “`Tis Pity She’s a Whore” and Athol Fugard’s “Blood Knot.”  He also directed productions of “Cincinnati Man,” “The Trip” and “Three, True, One.”

Apart from his acting, Cheadle is also a talented musician who plays saxophone, writes music, and sings.  He was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for his narration/dramatization of the Walter Mosley novel Fear Itself.  In addition, he recently co-authored (with John Prendergast) the book Not on Our Watch – A Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond (Hyperion), to help focus the world’s attention on this humanitarian crisis.  The book offers strategies that readers can implement to make a difference in the fates of people in Darfur and other crisis zones.

I spoke with Don Cheadle by phone from the
Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills --

Sandra Varner (Talk2SV): I saw the first Iron Man and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It is well known that there was early buzz that swirled around the sequel for many reasons, primarily because you replaced Terrance Howard’s character. Publicly,  I’ve heard him say really nice and glowing things about you in this role and his comments helped to squelch that awkward aspect of the rumblings. Did you rely on a friendship with him or your adaptable nature to take the edge off the controversy?

Cheadle: Well again it’s not something that I have any control over, the controversy having dealt with so I never really worried about it per se. I mean I wanted to make sure that he and I were fine and I’ve spoken with him and we came to an understanding I mean I didn’t push him out of a part, they couldn’t come to terms and he wasn’t going to come back and so it was an open role. So we were fine. Umm, in going forward you know you just then kind of do what you do and get down to doing the business of doing the movie and I kind of don’t worry about that other stuff. Because really as I said I haven’t, I can’t control it so I’m not going to waste time worrying about it.

Sandra (Talk2SV): I consider you part of a unique class of actors, those who are indefinable with a wide range of creative abilities. Would you agree with that observation?  If so, to what do you attribute your adaptability as an actor?

Cheadle:  When I became an actor and was doing theatre, back when I first started, I was cast in a wide array of character roles from comedies, dramas, and a whole host of different things.  So, for me, when I moved into doing it (acting) professionally, I wanted to maintain the ability to do the same thing and I just look at it as an extension of what I was already doing already.

Sandra (Talk2SV): I think you’re being modest because there are many people who volley between all genres but they don’t always distinguish themselves as you have.

Cheadle: Well, you know, I can’t say that because it’s not for me to say.  I mean, I can’t say that I crush every genre, every time, you know?  I never walk away from those moments going, ‘I nailed it.’ I just walk away thinking I’ve done my best and hopefully people respond to it and that’s the best I can do.  That’s all I try to freight myself with.

Sandra (Talk2SV):  Are you a person who is comfortable balancing life on the edge or are you more predictable?

Cheadle: I don’t really go for the edge. I have two teenage girls and I want to stay in more known territory,  be a good dad,  a good husband, go to work, do my thing and get out of there. That’s kind of how I approach it.

Sandra (Talk2SV): Continuing with the theme of how you choose to live life, you have the luxury of being in front of and behind the camera.  Were you to rely on one over the other to feed your family and/or realize your greatest potential, what do you lean toward?

Cheadle: I really enjoy putting movies together and seeing it happen from the bottom up. Acting itself can be very fulfilling but it --especially in this business-- can make you pretty neurotic. I don’t know which I would chose, one over the other in general, because it’s all about the nature of each individual project.  But I can say that I’m more and more relishing the idea of not having to be in front of the camera to get a project green lit and making it go.

Sandra (Talk2SV): Speaking of projects, your body of work is expansive. Many people link you to Devil in a Blue Dress and Hotel Rwanda. Do these movies book end your career to date and if not, what would you consider your legacy films up to this point?

Cheadle and wife, Bridgid

Cheadle:  Again, I would probably leave that up to somebody else to determine. However, Hotel Rwanda and Devil in a Blue Dress, both are good films. I’m very proud of those films and was glad to do them.  Plus Crash, Boogey Nights, Traffic, Talk to Me, Traitor… and I just finished a film called Guard, these are all films that I went into because they really sparked and touched something within me.  Something that I thought would be exciting to be a part of and a lot of them have borne out to be well received with people really digging them, so to me, that is the benchmark.  It’s more people’s response and their reaction and their determination as to what are the ones that stick in their minds than it is for me. It’s something I do for somebody else, you know.

Sandra (Talk2SV): Lastly, could you talk about your attachment to Darfur, their liberation efforts and what’s going on with you and the work you’ve done in support of the people of Darfur?

Cheadle: Well, they just had an election there but I think there’s a lot of controversy whether or not that was a legitimate election. So, we’ll see. But, on top of that, it’s still just trying to do things where we can raise money and galvanize support for the Darfuri people who are in refugee camps on the Chad, Darfur and Sudan borders.  They are potentially looking at this comprehensive peace agreement going south and old differences rekindled.  Maybe the place is falling back into the same kind of violence that was happening before the war between the north and the south. It would be tragic, but, if we don’t stay on it, it’s definitely possible.

Sandra (Talk2SV): Have you been lately?

Cheadle: I have not been lately.

Sandra (Talk2SV): Are you planning to go soon?

Cheadle: I am not planning to go soon; I’m pretty sure I couldn’t get into the country.