Video After The Jump
On this episode of People's Party, Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh sit down with legendary actor, director, producer, writer, and Avenger Don Cheadle. The conversation covers a wide swath of his career -- as the trio discusses the backstories of what led Cheadle to take the iconic roles he became known for over the years. "Colors," "Boogie Nights," "Devil In A Blue Dress," "Iron Man," "Out Of Sight," and "Hotel Rwanda" all come up in this wide-ranging discussion.
Cheadle also speaks on his contact with Kendrick Lamar, asking him to star in his self-produced and directed biopic 'Miles Ahead', and we get to hear about some of the hilarious reactions he received from Brits about the Cockney accent he used while playing Basher in the Ocean's movies.
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Interview Timing:
1:30 -- Don tells the story of what it was like to play a gang member in the movie "Colors" and act alongside real-life gang members from Los Angeles. He and Kweli also dive into the importance of the movie and how it introduced LA gang culture to mainstream audiences.
8:35 -- Talib asks Don how he landed the role of Ice Tray on "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air"
10:28 -- Jasmin asks Don about another one of his first gigs as a backup dancer for Angela Winbush in her video "It's The Real Thing."
12:35 -- Don talks about contacting Kendrick Lamar and asking him to star in his Miles Davis biopic "Miles Ahead" at the same time Kendrick was working on his album "To Pimp A Butterfly."
16:35 -- Talib mentions that he often uses Miles Davis' freethinking, genre-bending approach to jazz as a way to defend hip hop music when people frequently put it in a box claiming it only perpetuates negativity.
21:10 -- The trio discuss the common complaint people have about not being able to find good music to listen to, and how it really comes down to "your just not looking hard enough."
24:49 -- Talib mentions one of his favorite characters of Don's, being Maurice from the movie "Out Of Sight." Don goes on to tell about how he landed that role.
27:01 -- Don talks about how touchy Brits are about how their accents are portrayed in movies, and mentions getting cussed out on a few occasions by some that didn't appreciate his role of Basher in the Oceans films.
29:36 -- Don speaks on working with John Singleton on the movie "Rosewood" filmed in Sanford, Florida and mentions members of the KKK showing up during their one of their shoots.
34:02 -- Don reflects on his hesitancy in taking the role of Buck from "Boogie Nights" after glancing at the dense 130-page script and contemplating what his parents will think about him playing a porn star.
37:25 -- Talib asks Don what he thinks about Martin Scorsese's recent comments about Marvel movies not qualifying as cinema, and him saying that they are essentially the amusement parks of the film industry.
39:33 -- Talib asks Don how much research is involved on his part when developing a character from the Marvel Universe like War Machine, being cognizant that there is so much history tied into these roles.
43:20 -- Jasmin asks Don and Talib if there is a movie or song that they wish they could erase from their catalog. They go on to discuss the pitfalls of creating art out of desperation.
49:20 -- Don and Talib talk about how they became friends tag-teaming Twitter trolls, and Talib asks Don about his twitter profile bio noting "single-issue dem voter in 2020." They go on to discuss the progressive agenda and strategy for beating Trump.
1:00:03 -- Don speaks on some of the activist movements he's been a part of including the current state of Rwanda, still recovering from after-effects of government-sponsored genocide in the mid-90s. as well as his work in climate change awareness.
1:02:37 -- Talib asks Don how much fun he had playing the role of Mouse in the movie "Devil In A Blue Dress".
1:05:31 -- Don and Talib discuss the controversy of choosing Cynthia Erivo a Nigerian born actor to play the role of Harriet Tubman, and Don explains the most notable differences between biopics and documentaries that people should keep in mind.
1:10:07 -- Don tells about the crossroads he came to when receiving scholarships in both acting and music and how he made his final decision of pursuing an acting career even though his first love was actually music.
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