A hard look at himself

DON CHEADLE can barely stand to watch himself in movies.

"All I can see is everything I'm doing wrong that is a sham and a fraud," he says, animatedly. "I look at it like, 'Ugh, Don, you missed that. You weren't there in that moment. You liar!' "

Since 1995, when he burst upon the scene as Denzel Washington's quick-tempered hit man foil in "Devil in a Blue Dress," Cheadle has consistently delivered attention-getting performances in projects as diverse as Paul Thomas Anderson's "Boogie Nights," the off-Broadway production of "Topdog/Underdog" and the HBO biopic "The Rat Pack," for which Cheadle, playing Sammy Davis Jr., was nominated for an Emmy. The actor has also built a reputation for stealing scenes from a virtual constellation of better-known, better-paid marquee draws: George Clooney, Denzel Washington, John Travolta and Jackie Chan, to name only a few.

"Don definitely raises the game," says director Brett Ratner, who has cast him in three movies, including "After the Sunset," currently in theaters. "When Pierce [Brosnan] or Nicolas [Cage] is in a scene with him, it raises their game too, because they know they're with one of the greatest actors working today."

He also is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid seeing at the multiplex. In addition to his recent roles in Ratner's tropical heist caper and the indie sleeper "The United States of Leland," Cheadle will appear in a slate of releases.

In December, the Kansas City, Mo., native and CalArts graduate reprises his role as explosives expert Basher Tarr in Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Twelve" (follow-up to the hit "Ocean's Eleven") and portrays Sean Penn's friend and moral consigliere in the drama "The Assassination of Richard Nixon." And then there's "Hotel Rwanda," a wrenching saga of compassion and bravery set against Rwanda's mid-'90s genocide and civil war. The performance -- his first feature lead -- is already generating a steady hum of Oscar buzz.

Cheadle has also executive produced and costars in the dark ensemble comedy "Crash" (set for release in April) and is in development on his directorial debut, an adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel "Tishomingo Blues."

"I guess I did every film I wanted to do, so I can't complain" is Cheadle's bloodless appraisal. Casually dressed in sweatpants and a loose-fitting polo shirt and seated with his back to the coastline on the patio of a Santa Monica hotel, Cheadle pauses before adding: "I've been fortunate."