Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Interview with Don Cheadle
Don Cheadle isn't really tall, at least not as tall as you think he is in his movies, when he enters the room with his backpack. What's in it remains his secret throughout the interview. But why Steven Soderbergh considers him as his favourite actor is suddenly clear. This Afroamerican is very intelligent, rather attentive and has a presence that make his slimness soon forgotten. He played in 36 Films. From smart popcorn like Ocean's Twelve to black independent flicks like Devil in a blue Dress. An end to this is not near. The man is hard working and doesn't forget his fans along the way. A Polaroid with a signature wasn't a big deal for Cheadle.
OutNow.CH (ON): How did you prepare for your part as Paul Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda?
Don Cheadle (DC): I mostly just relied on the script. There is a certain amount of research that you can do with just the text of what went on. And of course sitting with Paul himself and trying to get things from him by osmosis and observing him. I tried to get an idea of who he is and of his spirit.
ON: How would you describe Paul Rusesabagina?
Family Man in Action
DC: The best way to describe him is a family man, someone who is very loyal and dependable. A solid citizen who really believes what he talks about. He is not for self-aggrandizement at all. This is really about being a family and being a father. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself had he had the opportunity to shelter people and do everything he did rather than just to protect his own family. He always thought that one day history would look back at the events of those hundred days and he wanted to be standing on the right side of it. Ultimately, we all do what helps us the most and in this case what made him feeling best was doing what he did. That was his selfish selflessness.
ON: How aware were you of the conflict when it started to erupt?
DC: In 1994 I was on the set of Devil in a blue Dress. L.A. was kind of preoccupied with O.J. Simpson and all of that. When the article appeared in Newsweek or Time, I forgot which one it was, with the picture on the front of the magazine, that was the first time it really came into my consciousness.
ON: Was the black community more aware of the conflict than the rest of the country?
DC: I don't know. I can't speak for all the black communities in the States. The ones that I know I'd say no because we were limited in our awareness of it because our media wasn't covering it. There was not a lot of attention given to it.
ON: When you spoke to Paul about his story what was your reaction?
Paul and Don sharing stories
DC: I didn't really ask Paul specifics about what had happened. I knew that he had helped Terry (George - the director) and Keir (Pearson) develop the script and I imagined that he had addressed what he wanted to be in the film in the script. I had a lot of research material to rely on: books, things that Terry had given to me, the Frontline-documentary. I didn't really want to sit and grill Paul about specifics. I thought that what he wanted to cover he would have offered. Because I knew how tragic what he's been through was. Actually, there were some things that he told me after we finished filming that I wished he had told me before. But these things really floored me and were just too incredible to believe.
ON: What was that?
DC: You know, driving through the town and seeing piles of bodies and kids sitting on piles of bodies, road blocks made out of corpses. I think if these images had been in the film it would have tilted it so far into an area that would have made it very hard to recover from and probably would have made it unwatchable.
At the Pressconference in Berlin
ON: What were your feelings yesterday at the press conference when people applauded so long for Paul?
DC: I think it's great. I'm very happy that Paul is around to receive this after so many years of trying to tell his story and no one seeming to care. It's great that he's able to receive that kind of reception.
ON: How much did the experience of filming Hotel Rwanda and getting to know Paul change you?
DC: It's given me an opportunity to talk to different people about not only Rwanda but what's going on today in Darfur/Sudan. Three weeks ago Paul and I went to Darfur. We visited a lot of the refugee camps on either side of the Chadian and Sudanese border. We met with the African Union and travelled with five congress people, some military, some representatives from NGOs. I don't think we would have had that sort of audience with these people nor would we have been able to travel with the policy makers had it not been because of this film.
ON: What did it look like in Darfur?
DC: Bad. We visited one camp near the city of Tine that had 40'000 people living in it and now there were 200. It's shocking to see the kind of devastation that occurred there and to know that it is still going on. They signed a peace treaty in January. Some refugees have been able to return to Southern Sudan but for the most part there is still nearly two Million people displaced. The day we left the Sudan, bombers came over, bombed the village and killed 105 people, Janjaweed (armed militia group) coming behind them, killing other people and burning that city to the ground. It's still continuing today. It's a pretty tragic situation.
ON: The world watched the conflict in Rwanda and didn't get involved. Do you think that there is something we should learn from it?
DC: I think we keep getting this lesson over and over and over again. Be it Poland or Germany or Sarajewo or Rwanda. We are sitting here now and discussing this when, like I said, Darfur is out of control. And still no one has really lifted their finger to do anything. The similarities of what happens in Darfur to Rwanda are very tragic. They are now trying to determine whether or not it is genocide. They determined that there were acts of genocidal intent. America is thinking about whether or not to trial war criminals. China and Russia don't want to have anything to do with it because of their ties to the Khartoum regime. The European Union is trying to force the international community to use the international criminal court. There is all this bickering going on while 10'000 people a month are being exterminated. Have we learned anything? I think we have. Are we doing anything? No we still are not.
ON: What has to happen in Sudan then?
DC: A few things have to happen. First, there has to be prevention. First people need to be saved and taken care of and to be protected. Before we are going into an argument whether or not it's genocide and how who will be prosecuted there needs to be accountability for the Janjaweed. Some real people have to be called to court and convicted by an international criminal court. I also think that the government needs to be sanctioned. Their travel visas need to be taken away. Their assets need to be frozen in the banks around the world. They have to really feel that the international community is standing together to say STOP. But unless that happens they will continue to sponsor genocide.
ON: Who do you think is to blame for the situation in Rwanda?
DC: I don't know if it is as easy as just placing the blame on someone. I know that it was set up in a way by those who colonized Rwanda, back to Leopold II all the way to the Dutch and the Belgians who left and turned the power to the majority after giving it to the minority Tutsi. But obviously, those who were doing the killings themselves are responsible more than anyone. You can be set into any circumstances but it doesn't mean you have to act in a particular way. But we have seen it time and time again in history that with the right set of circumstances and a charismatic leader people can be made to follow.
ON: Are you going to Rwanda with the movie? Have you been there yet?
DC: Next month.
ON: Your feelings about that?
DC: I'm looking forward to it. I decided that I want to bring my kids. I am exited to go.
ON: There are several films about Rwanda right now. Why do you think that is?
DC: Confluent circumstances. We've seen that trend over and over again. One Vietnam movie comes out, four Vietnam movies come out. One volcano movie comes out and there are three mars movies out at the same. Either it's something that gets out on the wire and everybody knows that the people are buying it so they blow the dust off theirs and say: "Buy mine!" or it's some hundred monkey collective unconsciousness or something. I don't know. But it is not the first time that a genre has seen multiple films.
ON: Has this film made you more politically concerned?
DC: I don't think about it as being political. I consider it more a social thing. I've always had that awareness. I just didn't have the platform this film provides me now to reach people who could actually do something about it. This movie is a great calling card and a great introduction to a lot of the NGOs and the policy makers that make the change.
ON: Are you looking for more political parts in the future?
DC: No, not necessarily. I wasn't looking for this one. I am just looking for scripts and stories that are interesting and exciting. I would love to do more political movies but those are few and far between especially coming out of Hollywood. Nobody wants to do a political movie nowadays, unfortunately.
ON: Are among your friends in the acting community more people concerned about Rwanda or any of the similar topics now that the movie is out?
With Sophie Okonedo at the Oscars
DC: I know that people are more aware of it now. I don't know if it has elevated to concern or any sort of action. I just did the Tsunami-telethon and there was every star of the world sitting on that stage to answer phones. Somehow, when it deals with Africa and its people and it's not a wave of water that you can blame - if it's politics and people and you're unsure of who to point the finger at and how exactly to get involved - it's much easier to go saying "well it's too much, I can't deal with it". And it's not as sexy as the tsunami as far as the pictures go. Everybody jumped at the bandwagon. Thank God, they needed it, but Rwanda has been having these tsunamis of violence for twenty years or more and it doesn't seem to create the same outpouring of concern.
ON: Do you think an actor or a Hollywood star has a responsibility to become politically active?
DC: I wouldn't necessarily say that they have a responsibility. I feel that I have attention on me at this moment in time, and while I have it, I want to be part of something that is bigger than me. It's very rare that a human being ever has the focus on them. With the Oscar-nomination and the attention that the film has gotten I have a lot of light on me. Especially with the subject matter of this film it perfectly platforms into what we see is going on today. I sometimes wish that those who are in the public light would say more.
The other thing is that it sometimes really backfires. A lot of celebrities came out and tried to stamp for Kerry last year and get involved in the political climate and affect the election. That really kind of hurt them in a way.
ON: In what way?
DC: It was used against us. Karl Rove (George W. Bush's chief political strategist) is a genius. Those folks that shaped that campaign really turned the celebrities into an evil, immoral Hollywood culture on their conservative, fundamental landscape. And I think it kind of hurt. You have to temper it and really think how you can be most effective.
ON: Have you seen Team America?
DC: Yes. But who cares? That's a bunch of puppets. Nobody is paying attention to that shit. That movie didn't even make any doe. Team America didn't change anything. The presidency? Yeah.
ON: There is this "Cinema for Peace"-Initiative happening here in Berlin. Are you involved in that?
DC: No. I am an actor-activist not an... (then he smiles).
ON: What is next for you?
DC: I have a film coming out in May that I also produced called Crash. It was written and directed by Paul Haggis who wrote Million Dollar Baby. Other than that I am really just looking at options.
As close as OutNow.CH gets
ON: Ocean's 13?
DC: Never!
ON: Why never?
DC: Don't you think we have done that?
ON: Have you ever tried to direct yourself?
DC: I have a script to direct. But I think that is down the line.
ON: What is it about?
DC: It's about a cliff diver who goes to a small town of Mississippi and witnesses a murder and gets pulled into this whole schizophrenic inner workings of the town.
ON: Why do you want to direct?
DC: I directed a lot of theatre. I find that in the movies I'm kind of directing myself sometimes or I am allowed to shape things myself. As an actor you sit there a lot of times, I could do that. Tom Hanks was saying when he did his movie: "You think you can do it? Do it!" Warren Beatty, an other actor-turned director, said to me: "Don't wait until you are ready. You are never ready. Just do it now when you have the energy!" It's three to five years in average to get a movie off. I'm still within the boundaries.
ON: You have a very well deserved Oscar nomination. What do you think of your chances?
DC: Thank you. I don't think I have to worry about a speech or anything. Because it is the Jamie-train this year and I think it's going to keep running all the way through the Oscars.
ON: Do you think we need narrative films like Hotel Rwanda to understand and cope with unimaginable things?
Off he goes
DC: I think a film helps. If it entertains. A movie's job - if it's not a documentary or a twelve-part series on PBS - is to entertain. I don't want to spend ten, twelve dollars to go sit in a theatre and be forced to a history lesson or being preached to. And I don't think our film does that. Our film is a thriller and it is a love story. But it just also happens to be about something that is socially relevant. I have a website. I just got online 15 Minutes ago and I've got so many letters from people writing in, saying: "What can I do? I was moved by your film. Can you direct me to some place where I can apply this passion that I now have?" I think that is amazing. I have never been in a film where people have walked out and had that reaction. That gives me hope that there could be a movement. That something could happen when people are demanding that we pay attention to Africa. Even in a small way that rock gets pushed a little bit. That's fantastic!
ON: What do you answer those people?
DC: I direct them to these NGOs I know: Amnesty International, UNHCR, International Crisis Group. They are directly in the camps. Without these organisations the refugees would be lost. I also encourage people to write letters to their representatives, to start a petition. Nothing motivates a politician more than thinking they are not going to be in again. Tell them that this is important and that they are going to lose votes if they are not going to make this part of their agenda. Unless there is noise made in every way, in every shape you can't do anything. Do a sit-in! Go to the Capitol! Do whatever you can do in your small way! Add all of those small ways together. Without that nothing is going to happen.
