Don Cheadle Quotes

I always say it's hard to cast an African-American film sometimes because those kinds of actors just aren't out there.

And it's ironic that in my career I've done the black shows from 'Moesha' to 'Fresh Prince' to 'Hangin' with Mr. Cooper,' and then a lot of black films like 'Biker Boyz' and 'Love Don't Cost a Thing.'

In many ways for black actors there's been two leading guys: It's Will Smith vs. Denzel [Washington].

'Boomerang!' I love that movie just because of Halle Berry, Robin Givens, Eddie Murphy, Grace Jones and Eartha Kitt. There were so many characters. As an actress, to see African-American actors be so diverse was different from what I was used to seeing.

I worked at Warner Bros. for a while. I was the head of the minority talent casting. It was like pre-Spike Lee and post-blaxploitation era.

If you take the '70s with Blaxploitation pictures, there was a proliferation of black-content films and motion pictures, television, stage plays and so forth at a time when Hollywood was in trouble financially, and it was cheaper to do black films to keep the lights on until they could reestablish themselves.

What happened when 'Sweetback' made all that money, the studios were in a very difficult position. They wanted the money, but they didn't the message. This marked the advent of the caricatures which became known as blaxploitation.

I remember the great work that Norman Lear did. That was an incredible heyday to be a black actor.

I think a lot of black filmmakers have done very well.

When you start making a movie, people want to know: Who's the star power? And very early, I realized there's not a lot of 26-year-old black actors who have been given the opportunity to be the lead of a film. It's, like, Michael B. Jordan, and then we're done.

Earlier, the notion was such that TV actors are overexposed and that they can't do films, but now it's not like that.

It's very rare that Black actors get an opportunity to do period pieces and to have a breadth of characters to choose from in their work.

After having acted in films down south, I always wanted to work on the small screen but couldn't say yes to everything that was being offered to me.

At some point, all black movies became biopics. All the good, serious ones became biopics. 'Ray,' 'Ali'... those types of movies, those are the opportunities available for mostly men. Those are the opportunities for a black actor to transcend 'black' movies. They have to play a black icon.

If you wanna be the comic relief in a big-budget movie, go to L.A. because there are five auditions in a week that you could hit up, and that increases your chances of getting those jobs.

I have been getting some offers of films. But more than films, I have been getting offers for serials which I have obviously declined.

Let me be honest - I might do a franchise film like 'Golmaal' if it comes my way. Eventually, we are all in Mumbai to become bigger stars, not better actors.

People aren't making as many movies as they used to, so youve got a lot of really big-name actors who are coming in, and they want to do pilots, so things kind of disappear for those of us who kind of have to still get in the room and audition and read for it.

I don't do movie junket-y things, because I don't really do movies that much.

Films with predominantly white casts can come in any form, tell any story, big or small. For black films, you have the light, fluffy rom-coms or 'Madea' movies, and then you have the black-torture awards movie.

To get even realer with you for a second, as a black actor, as a performer of color, I don't know how many more roles like Aaron Burr are gonna come along for me.

So far my career in movies didn't take off because I don't have a lobby to support and sign me. That's the only explanation I have. But people love Rakhi Sawant.

My sister pursued acting, and one day, I was like, 'Hey, I want to do acting, too' - this was just in commercials - and then one day, I got an audition for my first movie, 'Smurfs 2,' and I did it.

After you have built a fanbase, people call you to promote their films. Often, it leads to acting offers. After that, it' just a matter of your film working.

The transition from TV to films wasn't overwhelming, since an actor's ultimate job is to act.