Don Cheadle As A British Drug Trafficker
He did it in all three Ocean's 11 flicks, although his role in each was relatively minor, thus his screen time, minimal, so we didn't get to see much of him doing the Brit thing - the accent, and unfamiliar (to me anyway) slang usage; like when he uttered the sentence, "We're in Barney" to the rest of the Ocean's crew, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, et al, in I believe the first film in the series; the all looked at him as if he'd spoken Swahili, prompting him to further explain for the sake of their understanding, "Barney Rubble...," which was unfortunately followed by still more perplexed faces. "Trouble!" he finally yelled, as if talking to a group of simpletons, and of course they finally understood: Barney = Barney Rubble = Trouble... thus, "We're in Barney" means "We're in trouble!"Class dismissed :o)
Well, he'll be perplexing us west-siders even further when he plays a character who goes by the name, Thomas McFadden, a British drug trafficker who was arrested in Bolivia and jailed in La Paz's San Pedro prison. During his six-year stretch, McFadden served as a tour guide in a prison that thrived under a capitalist system made possible by bribery of officials.
Brazilian director, Jose Padilha will write to direct the film, titled Marching Powder, billed as a drama which Cheadle will star in and produce.
The film is based on a book called "Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine and South America's Strangest Jail," a memoir written by the real Thomas McFadden.
Brad Pitt's production shingle, Plan B, will also produce.
Jose Padilha won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Festival this year for a film called Elite Squad and enjoyed critical acclaim for his 2002 documentary Bus 174, which I recommend!
No word on when Marching Powder will reach theatres.
SOURCE
Well, thank God that Don, with his very believable cockney accent, will be playing the role because, God knows, there are absolutely no black British actors that could play the part... No, no Chiwetel Ejiofors, no Idris Elbas, no David Harewoods, no Eamonn Walkers, no Arian Lesters... nor any of the other black British actors that don't exist.
It took me until the last 5 minutes of "The Crying Game" to get over Forest Whitaker's accent (and yes, I know he was only in it for the first half hour or so) and, though I've never watched any of the Ocean's films to completion or seen/heard Mr Cheadle's efforts, reprots are that it's not particularly pleasing to the ear.
Oh, wait a second... Brad Pitt's Plan B...? Well, why didn't you say so in the beginning!? That makes perfect sense! If Angelina could play Marian Pearl, then Don's casting is absolutely spot on!!
:D