Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle portrays the one and only Ralph Waldo âPeteyâ Greene Jr.; Peteyâs story is funny, dramatic, inspiring â and real. In the mid-to-late 1960s, in
At the station, Petey becomes an iconic radio personality, surpassing even the established popularity of his fellow disc jockeys, Nighthawk (Cedric The Entertainer) and Sunny Jim (Vondie Curtis Hall). Combining biting humor with social commentary, Petey openly courts controversy for station owner E.G. Sonderling (Emmy Award winner Martin Sheen). Petey was determined to make not just himself but his community heard during an exciting and turbulent period in American history. As Peteyâs voice, humor, and spirit surge across the airwaves with the vitality of the era, listeners tune in to hear not only incredible music but also a man speaking directly to them about race and power in
To help promote the release I was able to participate in some roundtable interviews, the one below is with Don Cheadle.
During the interview we discussed playing Petey and how he came to get the part. We also talked about the possibility of an âOceans 14,â why he didnât wear the polyester when he wasnât filming, andhis upcoming projects like"Traitor" and playing Miles Davis.If youâre a fan of Don youâll like the interview.
As always, you can either read the transcript below or download the MP3 of the interview by clicking here.
And before getting to the interview, if you missed the movie clips I previously posted you can watch them here.
âTalk to Meâ opens tomorrow in select release.
Question: So as far as transformation goes youâre really burying yourself, I donât know if thatâs the right word, but â¦
Don Cheadle: Weâll know when it comes out if I buried myself or not.
â¦disappearing into roles so how difficult was Petey Greene compared to maybe
I think thatâs for an audience to decide how effect it was. I think you try obviously to take the script and thatâs the bible and you try do as much research as you can as far as who this person really was when you have a real life that youâre trying to depict. Thereâs some source material that exists not a lot, they erased most of the radio program so those tapes were taped over and most of the television programs they did similar with them, it was before they were really archiving that type of stuff so thereâs only a few clips here and there of him that exist and audio clips that exist but we had Dewey Hughes around which is a great touch. I met him before we started the project and he was there for a lot of the project so we always had him as a great reference point, but I donât know I just do the best I can and try to embody those things that were emblematic about him specifically his voice and try to just read between the lines of the research and find the true essence of who he is and not necessarily try to depict all the events as they happened exactly. You take a lot of poetic license but to try to be truthful about who he was.
Did this project find you or did you find this project?
You know itâs funny because I first heard about this project over 10 years ago or maybe around 10 years ago when Ted Demme had it who was since passed, and he had been trying to put it together for a while and never saw a script but it was mostly maybe there was a script, I donât remember reading a script but I know it centered more around his prison life and then it fell off the radar screen then came back into focus for me when Kasi was brought on to do a re-write and eventually to direct it and trying to find financing and had different casting groups and I at one point was going to play Dewey and so finally we were able to put it together in this iteration that it exists now which you guys saw I think and just really glad I stuck with it for this long because I think itâs rare to see a movie like this and itâs rare to see a character depicted like this, a character quite like this and of this time and in this period of time in our country so it just had a lot of plusses.
Before the Ted Demme version what was your awareness of the story?
None. I think itâs pretty common among people who live outside the D.C. area and are of a certain age. Unless youâre in your 50âs or 60âs you never heard Petey Green and if you werenât in DC you probably never heard Petey Green, so he was really a local legend. But he was a legend in his time and in that area. But no I hadnât heard anything about him.
Do you think itâs changedâthe situation back in the 60âs to now? Is there still discrimination, still racism you still face it personally yourself even though youâre a well known actor.
Yeah, sure. Of course, I donât think thatâs solved by any degree. You just look at what happened with Katrina and what happened with the people that lived in
So you havenât felt personally in the last couple of yearsâ¦?
Oh, Iâve felt it personally, too.
Like what would be an example?
Just certain places you go and certain ways that youâre treated. Especially when you travel, I donât know if itâs racism because to me thatâs a very specific sort of accusation or a charge and it has I think contained within that ideology a direct attempt to disavow someone of their rights depending upon their race or whatever. But you feel the effects of the institutionalized favoritism or just in the way things are done or the way movies are marketed that youâre a part of, the way that a film if it has more than one black lead in it is a black film and the black budget vs the budget of a movie that isnât seen as being a black movie. Just things like that that are the microcosm in our business of the macrocosm which is just how itâs perceived in the world.
When you look at the best Oscar winners and you see
Not me, what the fuck. Itâs all good. I think weâve been able, and by we I mean the business that weâre in has been able to encompass a lot of different stories from a lot of different perspectives and I think thatâs just been a result of sort of the reaction to the mainstream Hollywood movies that have become more and more narrow and more and more about doing it in the rear view mirror and trying to make these tent pole movies and target these mass audiences and they lose all their personality and they lose all their specialness and I think the reaction that weâve seen, all these movies and these performances that youâre mentioning have kind of come outside of that studio machine and hopefully more voices are going to keep emerging and getting through.
But as a producer you seem to be able to help certain movies that deal with more important messages and themes into production, I donât know what the question isâ¦
Thatâs purely coincidental. I mean it wasnât a plan. Itâs not like I saw Crash and went oh, thatâs going to have some impact socially I want to be a part of it. I thought this is a great script and unique and I havenât seen a movie like this ever come across my desk and I want to jump on board in anyway I can and help push it through. Itâs rare that you see movies that are different and get to that place where you as an actor read it and have the ability to jump on and try to help push it to get it made.
I guess I mean aside from when you take a project like that on as a producer, how are you better able to get those things made aside from just lending your name and your acting?
You get involved. You get involved in every aspect of the film making. The casting, the script, the production design, the release, the marketing, the advertising materials. You try to touch all of those things and try to make sure there is a continuum of focus and an continuum of ideas so that the movie doesnât seem like itâs scatter shot and everybodyâs in 5 different worlds and you donât know what the story youâre trying to tell. I think everybody was dreaming the same dream on this movie and we were able to pull together people that were there because they loved it and wanted to be there and you usually get a good product. It doesnât mean itâs going to be successful but it means I can be proud to stand up and go ok, I feel good about saying I was part of that one and helped put it together.
We never got to ask you any questions on Oceanâs 13, and so I would like to sort of say itâs been very successful. Would you go back to an Oceanâs 14?
I donât think so. I mean, I donât imagine theyâd do another one, and if they do they should start killing characters. We should start going backwards, you know. I think we should count down from 11 and it should be more like a 10 little Indians scenario and we should do different genres. We should do a horror movie, we should do a porno version, you know just a different genre of film until you get down to Oceanâs 2 should be like a death match between I donât know who it would beâ¦whoever is left standing. Me and George. Me and Shaobo.
But is it nice though that Oceans 13 seems to be critics and the public seem to really love the movie so obviously thatâs a little more rewarding after â¦
Yeah, after people want to come up and tell you in your face, hey 12 sucked. You know, itâs like the movie that people have no compunction about telling you they didnât like. Those movies are what they are. Itâs a franchise, itâs fun. I enjoyed those guys. I feel Iâm like the only one besides Steven Soderbergh thatâs working in those because Iâm trying to fucking wrestle this dumb accent down, not that the accent is dumb but my attempt to work with it is not always successful, so I feel Iâm the one whoâs in the trailer, theyâre out there playing basketball, and Iâm going over a diction book going I, I, A, A. You know? Theyâre frustrating for that, but you know, look theyâre just puffy and a nice little piece of popcorn, if people like it thatâs great. Itâs a cry for peace, thatâs what the Oceansâ series is.
I was going to go back to this film. You wore some very interesting clothes.
Thank you.
I wanted to know if you took any of them home and did you get a sense of freedom as an actor when youâd walk out with that thing? Did you ever look in the mirror and say wow?
I think freedom isnât the word Iâd use with those tight constricting clothes. You know, you could really see my religion in most of those pants I wore. No, I didnât take any of them home. I couldnât wait to get out of those clothes, but it obviously helps define the character and define the era and make you feel like youâre really back there and I love that people would just go out in those clothes every day. Didnât need a special occasion its like yeah, Iâm going to rock the velour bell-bottoms and you know, velvet tank top, why whatâs the occasion? Itâs Tuesday, what do you mean why? I miss that kind of style actually.
Did you ever go out with the clothes just for the hell of it and go around?
Surprisingly no, I didnât do that. Turns out polyester in 98 degree heat isnât that comfortable.
What were the 70âs like for you presumably as a kid?
I was 6 to 16 during the 70âs so I didnât know my way around a cup to find the handle but I remember having similar clothes like that and going to discos and all of that shit.
The movie is not a straight bio pic as it has elements of other things. Can you talk about what it is hopefully that you are trying to say about entertainment and black entertainers from the 60âs to the 80âs?
Yeah, I like that itâs not a straight bio pic and weâre not trying to tell the Petey Green story or the Dewey Hughes story. It was really a story about the friendship between these 2 men and the triumvirate being Vernell as well. Thatâs itâs really a story about â¦with a backdrop of the times and what this friendship had to come through and what they had to face and deal with and the unity they had and the disunity and the coming back together. I would hope that not just black audiences but definitely the black audiences show up but that all audiences show up because itâs really a celebration of that friendship but I think everyone whoâs seen it and comes out of it has an experience thatâs not relegated merely to race or any real political issue. I just think itâs a very entertaining film that encompasses a lot.
I think itâs about liberation or liberating from being yourself.
I think when you look at the pecification of everything thatâs happened in this country definitely. Itâs you long to have somebody stand up and go this is what I think and this is what Iâm saying about it and I donât give a shit, you know, come at me if youâve got a problem with it, look me up but you donât see a lot of that lately and itâs dangerous for people to do that and lose their jobs and I just think itâs a part of how we try to deal with something thatâs uncomfortable which is to just sweep it under the rug and then you donât have to talk about it anymore. Don Imus, what did he say oh, get it out of there, now the problemâs over as if it solved anything, so I think maybe thereâs a longing for⦠you live vicariously through somebody like Petey because we wish we could always be front and center with what we think.
What would it take for someone to come out today and say these sort of things and stay in the arena and not just be swept under like that?
I have no idea if you could it. Youâd have to be on pirate radio or youâd have to be somewhere where you could really voice your opinion. You think about a popular media, do you think All in the Family could get made today if somebody got that pilot across their desk? Theyâd say oh, no, no, no. Youâre not saying this unless youâre animated. I mean Family Guy can get away with it and American Dad can get away with it, but you have to be drawn.
I was going to ask about other things you might be working on right now, or things that might be on the horizon if you wouldnât mind talking about that?
Iâm starting a film in September, hopefully, if all things go forward, called Traitor. I have a documentary that Iâve produced coming out in October about activism in
Could you tell us about Traitor?
Yeah, I think I can. Itâs a movie about someone who infiltrates a cell, an agent that infiltrates a cell and maybe has gone over and isnât an agent anymore but may actually be on the side of the extremists. A Muslin American.
Does it have a director or a studio if I may ask?
The director is Jeffrey Nachmanoff who also wrote it and I think theyâre going to roll it out officially so Iâm just going to leave it at that.
Do you play or are you going to learn to play for Myles?
Iâm playing now, yeah.
How are the lessons going?
You know the lessons, Iâve been touring so much and traveling so much, I havenât been able to jump back into the lessons so much but I play every day.
Does it sound good?
Yeah, itâs a work in progress, Iâll tell you that much. It donât sound good to me but Iâm not going to play in the movie. I just have to play so Iâm comfortable with it. We have all of Miles archival music. Iâd never try to play it personally.
Do you know whoâs going to surround you in the
No, I donât know yet. Weâre just putting it together now and just writing the start of the script now.
Iâve heard about 2 projects. One about Toussaintâ¦
Nope.
No, ok. And the one about (inaudible) Leonard?
No. Bad IMDB info.
Can you give us an update on
Well, itâs hasnât changed that much for the people on the ground, I mean, itâs still over 2 million people displaced in camps on the Chad/Sudan border and thereâs still attacks by the Jonjueed and the government is obfuscating and saying itâs not true and the numbers thereâs been a thousand people killed and we know itâs 200,000 shy of the real number. The US made a unilateral move as weâre want to do in my opinion a very big mistake to try to impose sanctions and certain asset freezes and name a couple of other people on the list of those whoâd be potentially tried as war criminals but none of the upper level people have been targeted and we didnât work with the UN security council so once again we stepped out on our own to try and I donât know what be the flag bearer of all that is right and just and I think itâs a mistake.
Do you think its PR or dumb pig headedness?
I think itâs both. I think its PR and this entrenched ideal that our leadership has that the best way to solve problems is by our self and we donât need anyone else to tell us what to do or jump on board. Either the world comes together or we attempt to get the world to stand up and say genocide will not stand. We cannot as human beings that are on this rock, move forward if this is happening or we just say you know what as long as it doesnât happen here, as long as it doesnât affect our bottom line then itâs cool. And I think that is what the prevailing attitude is unfortunately and so weâre continuing to do what we can from our position you know, is to continue to push and raise awareness and you know George and Brad and Matt and Jerry Weintraub and myself started a foundation Not On Our Watch and raised about $9 million so far and given about $450,000 to Oxfam and given money to the NGOâs that are on the ground but that really is a blip on the radar. The more important thing to do is work with the leaders in other countries. The middle powers, the super powers and to come together and work through the system to get people back to the table and back talking because we canât have peace until you can protect people.
How can your audience, the people who follow you, how can they get involved somehow?
They can educate themselves and thatâs easy to do. You can go online and go to IRC.org and find out. You can go to Google, Earth and click
I think many companies are divesting. How is that working?
Thatâs another one. The
You also mentioned pre-strike, are you concerned or optimistic about how things are going to work out on that front?
Pre-strike? Oh, whatever. Whatâs going to happen is going to happen. Everyone always gets all atwitter before it happens and the last time nothing happened. Weâll see. I hope that cooler heads prevail because nobody wins when that goes down, you know. If you remember when it happened here, I donât know if you were here, but when it happened here about 20 years ago it was amazing to see all the businesses that got hurt by it. Not just ones that youâd imagine casting in the business. I mean, dry cleaners and restaurants and sandwiches shops and the city just grinded to a halt. Thereâs some real issues that need to be dealt with but hopefully we can deal with those fast and get back to it.
20 years ago I just remember watching TV and everyone was on strike.
Thatâs right.
You were out there with a picket?
Traitor.
Have you ever wanted anything as bad as Petey wanted that job?
You know, happiness and health for my kids.
Have you ever had to just go in andâ¦
Get it?
Demand it.
You know, no. Iâve been knock wood pretty fortunate to you know, be able to get the things Iâve wanted but hopefully if I ever come up against that Iâm going to have the hoodspa thatâ¦.donât take no for an answer.
Are you a master of Go?
Iâm not a master of hell, no Iâm not a master of Go. I love the game though.
Whatâs your strategy though real quick? What would be yours?
You know, I played Go with somebody who was not ranked but he was a really good Go player and it was a really unorthodox method. It was just attacking which doesnât really work unless the person responds to it which he did. It really made that parable about the best swordsman not being afraid of the 2nd best swordsman but the worst because heâs unpredictable. That really works. Somebody has no idea what the hell youâre doing, you can win.