Don Cheadle Iron Man 3Next up in our series of interviews with the stars of Iron Man 3 is Don Cheadle, who may be the most amusing man we’ve ever spoken to. Quick witted and sharp tongued, he also got pretty sweary pretty quickly, so it’s probably worth giving you a heads up before we get too far in.

If you don’t mind the obscenities then read on to find felt about getting to take on some of the film’s action, how he feels about Marvel fanbois, and just how ridiculous he feels when filming the in-helmet stuff.

 Getting comfortable in the character after two films

I don’t use that word with almost anything. I’m almost always uncomfortable. But I had a good time working with Robert [Downey Jr] and it’s a completely different experience working on something that’s that insanely huge. We go to these sound stages, with 360 degrees green screen, and you really have to trust the team because you don’t know what the fuck you’re looking at, you know! ‘So what’s over there? You’re not going to put something over there that’s going to make me look like an idiot for reacting this way to that’, and they say, ‘No no, it’s dynamic and amazing’, and you say, ‘Okay, because I’m going to make a big face’.

On having a bigger part than in the previous movie

Yeah, it’s nice to be in an action movie and get to actually be in the action. So it was more to do, and the relationship got stronger, and more involved between Tony and I. I don’t know if we’re coming back, I don’t know if there’ll be another one. But if there is, it’s set up nicely for where it could go. 

On getting to shoot action sequences

I just loved all the action stuff. I really had a lot of fun, in this one, being out of the suit and doing a lot of the cable work, and all the stunt stuff with the second unit. It wasn’t great that Robert got hurt, but when he got hurt they suited me up and were like, ‘Okay, it’s you now!’. The second unit directors, and the stunt coordinators, and the whole stunt crew and myself got to really do a whole different part of the movie that was a lot of fun. I wanted to be a stuntman before I wanted to be an actor, because I was stupid! But I love being physical, I love fighting, I love doing all that stuff on film. So it was nice to have that opportunity to live that fantasy out a little bit.

The Suit

You stand there and they buckle and strap and screw you into this thing, and then you can’t move and you feel like a beached whale. It’s really cumbersome, and you try to make it look like it’s not.

I still don’t know how you get prepared for it. It’s just something that anatomically does not suit you as a human being. You can’t touch your face, you can’t drink water, someone has to come by with a straw, if you have an itch you’ve got to get a stick. So it’s just really uncomfortable, but you try to make it look like it’s all good.

Filming the ‘in helmet’ shots

Not strapped to our heads, but very close. It’s in a chin thing, with a camera very very close. And it just feels like the worst acting ever. You just don’t know what you’re doing, you’re looking up and looking down, and saying, ‘What’s over there?’. ‘Oh, thats where you can see the heat of the suit, you can see the temperature, and over there’s the guidance control, and when you answer the phone look down, that looks good’. It doesn’t feel like any other kind of acting that I’ve ever done. And again, there’s a lot of trust, you just hope that they’re not making you look ridiculous.

On Shane Black

I didn’t know any of his work as a director, I knew his work from screenplays. Obviously he’s really good with dialogue, and he’s knows how to handle those relationships well, which seemed to fit perfectly with where we were headed. Obviously Robert knew him well from Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and he spoke very highly of him. So it was cool to jump right in and see that we were just going to pick up from where we left off in the second one.

On the interaction with Robert

Exactly the same as it was in the movie. Shutting him down, trying to keep him under wraps [Laughter]. It was nice because we had the opportunity with Shane and Drew [Pearce, screenwriter] and Robert and myself – not just us, but the other cast members – a lot of that stuff we worked out through improv. We obviously had the script, but we were encouraged to bring our voices to it, and our own ideas. That’s fun when you have all those facile minds able to bounce off each other.

Robert’s injury

I haven’t seen the film yet. I may see the movie and go, ‘Wait a minute, this whole part’s animated?’. No, I think they had to be nimble and there was obviously a lot of pivoting that had to be done.

But it was nothing that I could discern. I didn’t think it injured the story, maybe there’s other people that you have to ask that question. I feel like it actually kicked my character off in a different way.

On Ben Kingsley

Of course. I was a huge fan before I ever got to meet him, and was pretty happily surprised when I met him and he was just kind of a regular dude. We had a lot of time to spend on the set talking about both of our experiences in the business, and a lot about theatre. It was great to hear he and Rebecca [Hall] talk about her father and his experiences with him. The Royal Shakespeare Company had come to the States and I’d done a workshop with them so we talked about the RSC. It was just a great time to be on the set with him, and we’ve stayed in touch with each other. I’ve told him that when I was here he would have to avert his gaze, which he was very good about doing. [Laughter]. That eye contact thing bugs me out. So I’ve got a lot of respect for the guy.

Watching himself on screen

It takes me a while to have some distance between doing something and being able to watch it. I say to people, it’s like if you call home and listen to your answering machine and you hear your voice. Multiply that times that, and that, that’s what it’s like when you sit through your own movies.

On Marvel fans internet posts about him

I don’t scroll down. [Laughter]. I think that’s courting folly. Because if you’re going to do it, you’ve got to read it all. You’ve got to read the parts where they like you, you’ve got to read the parts where they hate you. I just assume that I’m hated and loved.

On doing Funny or Die sketches on the internet

Well, they’re not done for profit! Yeah, it’s absolutely done for that. The Funny Or Die stuff, with the Drunk History and the Captain Planet, those are just a lot of fun, you know what I mean? And they’re easy to do, they don’t take that much time. I did stand up before I was an actor and it’s another way to flex the comedy. It’s just fun to have the ability to do that too. Everybody’s a critic on the internet. So they’re just fun to do, and now Funny Or Die is moving to Comedy Central. They had one that I was going to do but the timing didn’t work out. But I love those guys, I think it’s a great place to flex.

 

 Iron Man 3 is out today, read our review here.