Don Cheadle Starred in a ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ Spinoff That Never Aired

Before he became an Oscar-nominated actor, Don Cheadle actually envisioned a career in jazz music. So, in the latest installment of VF’s video series A List, completed prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, contributing editor Franklin Leonard asks Cheadle to list his favorite jazz solos—from Miles Davis (whom Cheadle played in the biopic Miles Ahead, which he also directed) to Oscar Peterson.

Cheadle also had some amusing early credits, including a one-episode guest role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as “Ice Tray,” one of Will Smith’s friends from Philadelphia. Despite the relatively brief appearance, Cheadle was actually tapped to lead a spin-off, NBC’s In the House, in the early ’90s. “I shot a pilot. I think you can actually find it online,” Cheadle says. Spoiler alert: You sure can. In another instance of Cheadle’s two worlds colliding, he even wrote the show’s intro song. “Again, I never completely dropped the idea of music. It was always in the sidecar,” he says. “And I wanted to take a crack at the theme song. They’re like, ‘Go ahead.’ I don’t know that ultimately we would’ve used it, but I’m singing and you hear it.”

More than a decade later, Cheadle would earn his first Academy Award nomination for Hotel Rwanda, in which he played real-life hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina, who sheltered refugees during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. “Well, the experience was one thing, and what it did for my career was one thing, but what dwarfed that in many ways is what it triggered as far as me being an activist,” Cheadle says. It was during this time, the actor explains, that he learned the power his platform as a public person held. Cheadle says, “To have the light is to use the light.”

Cheadle’s latest role places him back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Rhodey in the Disney+ series, Secret Invasion. Although it’s a part Cheadle has played multiple times since 2010’s Iron Man 2, it was the first project where he’s worked opposite fellow MCU stalwart Samuel L. Jackson. “I think it was his fault, personally. If I’m gonna lay blame at somebody’s feet, I think he was scared,” Cheadle quips, before earnestly adding, “Sam and I have been friends for many years. We golf together. I’ve seen him onstage. Sam’s a great actor. No B.S. We had a great time.”

When it comes to his next role, Cheadle’s career philosophy remains the same: “There is no plan. You keep your head down, you keep working. I think I’ve been very fortunate that the things I was drawn to went, and that I’ve been blessed and been very right place, right time.”

Watch Leonard’s full conversation with Cheadle above.