Don Cheadle Says Marvel Gave Him Two Hours To Decide if He Wanted To Commit To a Six Film Deal

Sometimes things have to work fast in Hollywood and when Marvel was looking to replace Terrence Howard as Rhodey in Iron Man 2, they were looking to get a fast commitment for a six-film deal!

During a recent interview with The A.V. Club, Don Cheadle told the story of how he was offered the role while at his kid’s laser tag party and that Marvel only gave him two hours to decide. It’s actually a pretty wild story. I imagine the pressure that the actor was feeling during these two hours was pretty intense. He explains:

“I was actually at my kid’s birthday party—a laser tag party—and I got a call from my agent, and they said, ‘Hey, so I want to connect you to these Marvel guys. They want to talk to you, but they want to offer you the part.’ I don’t think it was [Kevin] Feige. I don’t know who was on the phone. But they said, ‘Hey, this is the role. We want you to do this. It’s a six-picture deal.’ I was like, ‘What?! Oh, uh, okay…’ And I’m trying to do the math. I’m like, ‘That’s 11 or 12 years. I’m not sure.’ And they’re like, ‘Well, we need to know, because if you’re not saying yes, then we’re gonna move on to the next person. So you’ve got an hour.’

Yeah, at first they only gave him an hour! It wasn’t until Cheadle explained that he was at his kid’s birthday party that they gave him a whole extra hour! He continued:

“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. I said, ‘I’m at my kid’s laser tag party right now.’ They said, ‘Oh! Oh, take two hours.’ So generous! So I go back inside, and I’m ducking behind things, playing laser tag, and talking to my wife. I’m like, ‘Should I take a flier on this? Is this something I should do?’ And she said, ‘Well, yeah, I guess so. All things being equal, this is that kind of thing. You’ve never done anything like this before. Big special effects, tent pole, four-quadrant movie. Do you want to do something like this?’ I said, ‘I kind of do.’ She said, ‘Well, then take a flier. Let’s do it. Try it.’”

So, he took the role! Sometimes ya gotta trust those gut instincts. Cheadle was a great choice for Rhodey and I’ve enjoyed what he’s done with the character in the franchise. I hope that we haven’t seen the last of him!