by Angela Bronner Helm
Craft. The word has many meanings. In the context of acting, it’s about authentic, palpable characters that move you. Don Cheadle, 47, has been perfecting his craft since he was a gangbanger in Colors, consistently composing scene-stealing parts like Mouse in Devil in a Blue Dress, Basher in Ocean’s Eleven, Graham in Crash, or the Oscar-nominated Paul Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda.
Cheadle’s latest role is that of a brilliant, virile, emotionally vapid management consultant named Marty Kaan in Showtime’s House of Lies, a biting, fast-cut comedy premiering in January. Lies is an unvarnished look at corporate America, capturing the personal fallout that occurs when ethics fly out the window. Marty; his psychoanalyst dad (Glynn Turman); pill-addicted ex-wife; and gay, biracial preteen son who he’s raising solo represent a truly modern family. “I thought it was edgy and salty and all the stuff I want to do and that people don’t get to see me do,” says Cheadle.
Considering that his real father is also a shrink (“Things tend to coalesce around me that let me know that I’m in the right place,” he muses), the actor/activist was delighted to participate in our “word association” play, otherwise known as Confessions.