When Don Cheadle (pictured) took on the role of Paul Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda most of us saw a host of awards going his way. Although most of us were not in Rwanda when the genocide took place, Cheadle’s ability to paint the gloomy picture of that time helped us learn of how dark that time really was.
But once you had blinked and opened your eyes again, you would have seen Cheadle as the cool Petey Greene in the film Talk To Me in which he stars alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor. Again playing a real-life character, Cheadle managed to make us see the life of radio personality Greene who was a legend in the ’60s and ’70s.
Given that the two roles are as different as night and day, it comes as no surprise that Cheadle joined the cast of House of Lies, a hit comedy drama series coming to SABC3.
Playing the hilarious Marty Kaan, Cheadle portrays a man who doesn’t play by the rules and does everything in his power to get ahead by using other people. As a management consultant, who left a big company to start one of his own, Marty is always looking for ways to get back to his glory days, but on his own terms.
This need to win back his past status sees him as well as his staff use not-so-by-the-book practices to get business to come their way.
That’s the business side. House of Lies also shows us Marty’s troubled personal life which consists of his demented ex-wife Monica (played by Dawn Olivieri). They have a son together so he can’t wish her away. We also see a lot of Marty’s dad, Jeremiah (played by Glynn Turman).
It is a good thing Jeremiah is a retired psychiatrist because with Marty’s dysfunctional life he needs a shrink every now and then.
Since its inception two years ago, House of Lies has been a frequent nominee as well as winner at several award ceremonies including the BETs, the Primetime Emmys, Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes. Each year the show improves so much that it is now in its third season in the US.
If you have always wondered what the fuss has been about, or you missed its run from the start, then this is your chance to catch up from the first season.
• House of Lies airs Mondays at 10.30pm on SABC3.