Anna Daniels
The closest that many of us ever come to feeling like we’re in an action movie is during a game of laser tag. Appropriately, that’s what Don Cheadle was doing when he got the call asking him to take over the role of superhero War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Terrence Howard was fired from Iron Man 2.
Cheadle told the AV Club he got a call from Marvel’s people via his agent during his kid’s birthday party. And as we now know, this wasn’t just any role they were offering him. Cheadle was committing to six movies, and based on a quick calculation he did on the spot, he estimated that meant 11 to 12 years. Oh, and Marvel had a second choice waiting in the wings, meaning he had to decide within one hour. “An hour to decide 12 years, and a role and parts that I don’t even know, in movies that are coming down that I have no idea what they’ll be,” Cheadle summarized.
He persuaded them to give him two hours, so he could finish playing laser tag and contemplate this life-changing opportunity. Ultimately, it was a conversation with his wife Bridgid Coulter that persuaded Cheadle to take the part. She pointed out that he’d never done a movie like this — a major studio project with an audience made up of basically everyone who goes to the movies (except Martin Scorsese) with the best special effects money can buy. With the project laid out like that, Cheadle realized he wanted in. So, in his words, he decided to “take a flier.” The decision has given him many more reasons to celebrate.
Written by: Looper
