Don Cheadle: I’ve seen how George has to get around fame – I don't want that

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Don Cheadle: I’ve seen how George has to get around fame – I don't want that

When strangers spot actor Don Cheadle they have what he calls “percussive recognition”.

“They go ‘You’re...um...’,” he says, accompanying it with a rapid snap of the fingers to demonstrate their attempts to put a name to the familiar face.

Picture him in black tie and it might jog their memories back to the Oscars in 2005, when he was nominated for best actor for Hotel Rwanda and in 2006 as one of the stars and producers of that year’s best picture, Crash.

More recently, at this year’s Golden Globes, they would have seen him picking up the best actor award for his performance in the TV series House of Lies.

And then there’s always his three appearances as the explosives expert Basher Tarr, one of Danny (George Clooney) Ocean’s 11-man heist crew.

However, his level of celebrity is one that the Missouri-born Cheadle is more than comfortable with.

“I have always had a very gradual and sort of steady arc of fame, which is nice,” he explains.

“I have seen the other side of it. I have seen how Brad (Pitt, Clooney’s right hand man in the Ocean movies) has to get around. I have seen how George has to get around and I don't want that.

“It is a lot of attention which is hard to have when you are trying to raise a family and be pretty normal in your off time.

“Fame is great to get a good seat in a restaurant but I don’t see the value of it in other places.”

He gets recognition enough from the industry who know that the talented and versatile Cheadle is a class act.

He was also a reliable fill for the role of Lt Colonel James Rhodes in Iron Man 2 and 3, taking over from Crash co-star Terrence Howard.