Don Cheadle
Don Cheadle
Donald Frank "Don" Cheadle Jr. is an American actor, writer, producer, and director. He had an early role in Hamburger Hill, before building his career in the 1990s with performances in Devil in a Blue Dress, Rosewoodand Boogie Nights. He started a collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh that resulted in the films Out of Sight, Trafficand Ocean's Eleven. Other films include The Rat Pack, Things Behind the Sun, Swordfish, Crash, Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, Reign Over Me, Talk to Me,...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth29 November 1964
CityKansas City, MO
CountryUnited States of America
Don't talk to me unless you speak American. It's all the things you don't say that's below the surface and how it can bubble up.
It's shocking to see the kind of devastation that occurred there and to know it's still going on. I am working with Timberland -- a company I respect and whose pursuit of social justice I admire -- to inspire others to help bring a halt to these atrocities.
We cannot stand here in a free society, proclaiming that we care about human life, and do nothing in the face of this, in my opinion,
We knew if we could get Don, he'd attract a cast because he's the kind of actor all the directors want to work with. We asked him to produce the film as well, because we're not dumb. ... He's the reason we have this cast, he and the fabulous casting directors.
What we are seeing are tsunamis of violence, ... and we will continue to see these unless people step up, unless people step forward and demand from their leadership, demand from the international community that this not stand.
People saw the film and said, 'Wow that was terrible. I wish I had known.' Now you know.
I don't believe that the U.S. needs to take a police role. I think it needs to support African nations that have said they want to become a part of the solution.
It's a film that doesn't end when the credits roll. It's a discussion that we've heard out in the world many, many times, and it's great that it's just started a dialogue about things that people, on the surface, seem not to want to talk about.
They really need to come up with a clear definition - that's what this is all about.
A lot of actors had reservations about the material and about Paul - not his personality or talent, but, with a first- time filmmaker, there was not a lot of margin for error. But I trusted his vision.
It's much easier to cry or be angry, but to really laugh and genuinely be buoyant and laugh. That's hard if you don't really feel that way.
Comedies are very hard to do. They are difficult. Unless there's the Judd Apatow school, where they're like okay, we know that, we're going to do those. Or unless it's something that's far to the other side.
I don't know what would be antithetical to do on the other side, maybe a Tyler Perry movie or something. No, there are very few comedies that live in between that. Or you're doing some kid thing like a Jim Carrey movie with animated something that's like that. Yeah, I've wanted to do them. I like doing them. I did Talk to Me. That was pretty much a comedy.
The best thing that I learned from the best directors that I worked with is that the best answer wins. They are ego-less when it comes to doing the most important thing.