Though best known for his roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Ocean’s movies, and more, some are still thinking about that one time Don Cheadle played Captain Planet in a Funny or Die movie. Speaking during one of GQ‘s trademark “Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters” videos, Cheadle was asked about the parody video, revealing it came about while he was filming another video for Funny or Die that he conceived of while filming one of the Ocean’s movies. While waiting to shoot the Captain Planet sketch came up, Cheadle agreed to be in it until he saw a photo of what the animated character looks like.
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“So, I’m sitting down in the makeup chair, and they start to come up with this blue face paint. I was like, ‘What’s that?’ They’re like, ‘Well, it’s Captain Planet.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t want to do that,’” Cheadle recalled. “And they’re like, ‘Well, this is how Captain Planet looks.’ and they showed me the picture of him. I was like, ‘That’s ridiculous. I don’t wanna do it.’ I almost left, and I don’t know how they talked me into doing it. Somebody talked me into doing it. So, I did it and immediately regretted it after I did it. But, then I saw it, and it made me laugh, so I thought it was pretty funny, and now, it’s ridiculous how many people talk about that character.”
For those that don’t recall, the sketch begins like a regular Captain Planet set-up, only for Cheadle’s version of the character to psychotically begin turning people into trees in a twisted streak of revenge.
Cheadle added, “I mean they were just like, ‘What’s the craziest thing, how can we end this in the craziest way that we can?’ So let’s have him be like the good guy, and be the guy that would be your hero on Saturday, but he’s messed up in his head. That Captain Planet was very messed up, clearly.” You can watch the original sketch below.
