At Last, Don Cheadle Is the Hero

By Desa Philadelphia

There are black actors on the A-list of box-office draws (well, two: Denzel Washington and Will Smith). There are dozens more laboring in trendy CGI thrillers, doomed to bolster the old joke that "the black guy always dies first." And there are comedians, who anchor movies destined mostly for black audiences. Then there's Don Cheadle. He plays the guy, the seemingly ordinary guy, who turns out to be the most colorful bloke in the bunch. "For the most part, character roles are more interesting," Cheadle says. "And more mine." Cheadle, 40, doesn't have Washington's looks. His small, lithe body is not built for Smith-like action heroism. A Cheadle character doesn't rely on swagger; he is the yeoman worker who does his job, does it well and doesn't understand why others make such a fuss.

Cheadle's roles--Buck Swope, a porn star who dreams of becoming a stereo salesman, in Boogie Nights; Montel Gordon, a determined narcotics cop, in Traffic; the scene-stealing murderer, Mouse, in Devil in a Blue Dress; and Cockney explosives expert Basher Tarr in Ocean's Eleven and Twelve--are miniaturist masterpieces, full of detail and life. But as Paul Rusesabagina in the independent film Hotel Rwanda, Cheadle shows he can fill the screen as well as anyone else.

Terry George, that movie's director, was urged to pursue Washington for the role of the hotel manager because snagging the star would mean instant funding. George says it took years to find backers, in part because he wanted Cheadle for the role. "I've watched him for years, and he just has this chameleon ability to disappear into a character, and that quality is exactly what I was looking for most," says George. The actor has made peace with the fact that directors love him more than producers do. "You have to be in something that makes a whole lot of money and have the perception be that you're the reason it made money," he says. "It's blunt business. Yes, it would be fantastic if I had my pick of the litter of anything I wanted to do, but by the same token, I've made a comfortable living, and I don't sit at home and see a lot of roles I didn't get."

George Clooney, sometime producer, used him on the advice of Ocean's Steven Soderbergh, with whom Cheadle is a particular favorite. "Steven says if you can get Cheadle in your movie, put him in," says Clooney. "It doesn't matter if he's right for the part. In Fail Safe, I made him a copilot. There were not a lot of black copilots in the Air Force in 1962."

Cheadle isn't as sure of his ability to deliver. It's not that he lacks confidence: he plays poker with bravado, he's got plenty of aggression in his basketball and golf games, and he's proud of his two young daughters' soccer skills. But although he began acting as a 10-year-old in Denver, he says he still cringes whenever he sees himself onscreen. In fact, he has yet to watch some of his films. "My father is a psychologist, and he says that's healthy-- you should have some self-doubt," says Cheadle. "If you ever think that you're all there, then that's something to worry about." Maybe it's that kind of common sense that makes Cheadle so understanding of all those regular guys he plays. --By Desa Philadelphia