Entertainment, Movies - Army Times

Cheadle on politics, passion for movies

Don Cheadle never disappoints.

Even if the movie he’s in isn’t compelling, he always is. Luckily, with his latest release, “Traitor,” the film is good as well. Cheadle plays a man with a lot of Middle Eastern contacts who may be, as the title implies, a traitor — a terrorist. Or maybe not. Part of the fun is in the finding out, and it’s a lot more complicated than it sounds. It gets to the thinking behind the decisions people make that sometimes lead them down dangerous paths.

Never shy about speaking out about what he believes in, Cheadle, along with his co-stars and friends from “Ocean’s Eleven” (and Twelve and Thirteen) — George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon — have been vocal critics of the violence in Darfur, among other issues.

Cheadle spoke recently from New York about that, as well as his role in “Traitor,” the film itself (which he co-produced) and more.

Question: You do a lot of things, and a lot of things well. But is a movie like this, that’s more serious and relevant to what’s going on in the world, more satisfying?

Answer: I’m actually looking forward to doing just a big crazy comedy that doesn’t have any relevance to anything other than pure humor and entertainment. But I like doing movies that are thought-provoking because I like to have my thoughts provoked. As a producer, I kind of selfishly like to replicate the kind of things that I would like to go see.

Q: Without giving too much away, where does your character’s loyalty lie?

A: I think he says it — to God. To his belief in a higher power. And that’s also whom he serves.

Q: It’s such an intense movie. Was the set the same way?

A: I think there’s a misconception that a lot of people have who have never been on a set, that if you’re doing a dramatic movie, then everything is always dramatic. Or if you’re doing a comedy, then it’s just purely jokes all the time. And neither is necessarily true. I mean, we would be having various deep discussions when we were doing the “Ocean’s” movies about Darfur and about Africa, because we were all, outside the movie, dealing with this, Matt and Brad and George, obviously, and myself. And on the set of this movie, because of who the people were, Said Taghmaoui, not necessarily the most serious guy in the world, I’m not really the most serious guy in the world, and Guy (Pearce), too, we all love to laugh, as well. It may look like it’s all just dour and seriousness, but that’s not the case.

Q: Steve Martin came up with the story for “Traitor.” That Steve Martin. Isn’t that kind of odd?

A: If you know him only as the wild-and-crazy guy, it doesn’t make sense. He’s a deep dude.

Q: You’ve said you don’t particularly like watching yourself on-screen. But as a producer you have to. Is that difficult?

A: I try to be holistic. ... I’m just saying it’s hard for me to watch a movie that I’m in for my performance. I tend to look at it more for story and does the story work and are all those beats being played in a way that we understand them and they make sense and that we believe. When you produce a movie, you have to see it 100 times. Every take, every cut, the color, the timing, all of that stuff. Every trailer, every commercial, the poster. I’m really sick of me by the end of that process. But by the same token, it’s important, so you kind of have to be a part of that.

Q: If you see it that many times, do you sort of fade away in the film? Are you able just to watch it as a movie?

A: No, that takes years of distance for me. Honestly, it takes a long time till I can watch it dispassionately.

Q: You’re politically and socially active. Some of your films are, as well. What responsibility to do actors and films have in that regard?

A: I don’t set out to do movies that have an issue surrounding them necessarily, unless whatever issue it’s focused on also happens to be very entertaining and works on that level. Because I don’t think a movie is the best place to address those things. I think if it’s medicine, it’s better done on something (where) there’s no artifice. Turn on PBS and learn a lot about the subject. Turn on “Frontline” and it will tell you a lot about the subject. Our movie is basically a spy thriller that is also in this world. I don’t think that movies have to be thoughtful to be successful. ...If you’re not entertained, then everybody’s going to be, “So what?”