Cheadle says he's never been busier

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Don Cheadle says he's never been busier, playing a sleek yuppie in his latest movie "Reign Over Me," which opens this week, and with a list of other projects in the works.

After over two decades in the industry, Cheadle, 42, is finally getting bigger parts in bigger films and producing the pictures he wants through his company Crescendo Productions.

Since "Hotel Rwanda" in 2004 and Oscar-winning "Crash" in 2005, the Missouri native has been making the most of that momentum, and was recently named "Male Star of the Year" at the annual ShoWest movie exhibitors convention.

Cheadle spoke recently to The Hollywood Reporter about fame and movies:

Q: Is this the hottest you've ever been in Hollywood?

A: "I've got "Talk to Me," "Reign Over Me," "Ocean's Thirteen" and the documentary "An Indifferent World" that I made with Warner Bros. about activists in (Darfur, Sudan). I kind of try to make my own heat. It's mostly me going out there hustling, trying to put things together."

Q: You're starring opposite Adam Sandler in the $20 million "Reign Over Me." You get to play the slick yuppie psychiatrist - a change from the bad guys?

A: " I've played slick yuppie guys before. I played one for years on "Picket Fences" on TV."

Q: You're executive producing the upcoming feature "Talk to Me." You also star in the film as Ralph "Petey" Greene, an ex-convict who reinvented himself in the '60s as a talk-show host and activist.

A: "Yep. I was involved with the casting and helping to work on the script. I didn't initiate the project. I first heard about it years ago from Ted Demme, who's not with us anymore. Teddy and I tried to do it, and then it went into turnaround."

Q: You were one of the producers of "Crash." What did you do as such?

A: "Soup to nuts. It started as script that Bobby (Moresco) and Paul (Haggis) had. They hadn't really gotten any traction on the film. I met with them at Paul's house. They said they'd like me to be part of the film. I said I'd like to help it get made, too. They said, "Why don't you jump on and help us produce?" I said, "That'd be great." That was a very long process - nobody wanted the film. It took close to a year. It was a lot of work getting the cast together."

Q: Was it key casting that got "Crash" greenlighted?

A: "Sandra Bullock was very important. Brendan Fraser was important. Matt Dillon. Thandie Newton. It sort of all came together, and then the money started stepping up."

Q: What's the status of the "Crash" TV series you were going to produce?

A: "It's a "we'll see." We're just turning in the script, actually."