What happens when you put an Oscar nominee one-on-one with a four-time NBA MVP on a basketball court?
You getSpace Jam: A New Legacyand the occasional unexpected challenge.
It’s hard to find an actor with a more diverse and distinguished resume thanDon Cheadle.
Warner Bros. Pictures
But he’s now in uncharted territory as a rogue A.I.
andLeBron James' nemesis in the highly-anticipated newSpace Jamfilm.
Your antagonists have to be as interesting as your protagonists, like Darth Vader, Hans Gruber.
Scott Garfield/Warner Bros.
he says with a laugh.
You weren’t the direct demo, I’d say.
I like doing the math and imagining you were probably filmingBoogie NightsasSpace Jamcame out.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Just over on the complete other side of the spectrum.
[Laughs] Exactly.
It made us think, “Oh, maybe we should animateBoogie Nights.”
But, no, there you, Don Cheadle, are in the flesh.
Well, kind of.
So tell me about your character, Al G Rhythm, or as much as you think you might.
People are like, “Is he the bad guy?”
and I’m like, “I don’t know if he’s the bad guy.”
But he and LeBron do find themselves on opposite ends of the situation.
What was it like trying to figure out how to play artificial intelligence?
Half of the fun is going into the mind of an A.I.
What are their priorities?
What do they think about themselves?
What do they want everybody else to see?
And he’s an A.I.
with a chip on his shoulder, so that was a lot of fun to figure out.
I previously saw you mention doing 14-hour days during production, so definitely not a light gig.
While you’re no stranger big-budget, CGI films thanks to the MCU, what was filming like here?
It was really interesting.
It was a lot.
Well, I think in a way it is a logical handoff from one GOAT to the next.
But also LeBron having to do some acting in this, some emotional stuff.
I mean, he had more acting to do [than Jordan].
It’s something that I don’t think people anticipate.
So I was pretty impressed.
If he wants one, what do you think his future is as an actor?
I think he’s absolutely down for it and wants to work hard at it.
[Laughs] He’s got enough shine!
What can you say about being more in the action?
I’d say that I get to do a lot of stuff in the movie.
and have all the best toys in the digital world.
Another real cool discovery in this movie is going to be C.J., who plays LeBron’s son.
He’s amazing and a really sweet kid.
And, again, somebody who came aboard a tough shoot and just really wanted to get it right.
And he’d throw it back, like, “Okay, let’s go.”
He was always game for that.
And he and C.J.
went at it all the time; they were always competing and him telling C.J.
moves to work on, and it was just such a cool vibe.
He’s such a big kid in many ways.
I’m like, “You know I played the GOAT, right?
You really have to D up.”
But I got that one bucket!
You didn’t block that one!
Every film hopes to hit a wide demographic of people that will enjoy it.
As you mentioned, you were maybe the initial GOAT, followed by these these latest GOATs.
I think we’re hoping.
As long as they’re talking about you.
[Laughs] Let’s get it poppin: Who’s the better actor?
Who is going to be the first to get an Oscar?
Or an Emmy or Golden Globe?
Let’s have that debate.
If you put them both inLawrence of Arabia, who would win?
Space Jam: A New Legacypremieres July 16 in theaters and on HBO Max.
