Don Cheadle talks ‘House of Lies’ season 2, ‘Iron Man 3’ and a big finale

Don Cheadle is a busy, busy actor and now looks forward to the second season of “House of Lies” with co-star Kristen Bell and returning in the third Iron Man film.

Talking with Collider in an interview released Jan. 12 Cheadle talked about juggling the TV and film roles.

“I guess it’s always a challenge, just from a time standpoint, when you also want to be a dad and be plugged into your family’s life.  But, I’ve been very fortunate.  It seems to have been working out in a way that allows me to do [everything].  I was working on Iron Man 3 this summer, and we ran into a little bit of a snafu ‘cause Robert [Downey Jr.] got hurt and it pushed production back on House of Lies.  We got into a bit of a scheduling thing, but ultimately, we did it and it’s fine.  We have a few more weeks and it’s going to be great.”

Now Cheadle looks to “Iron Man 3” and returning as James Rhodes aka War Machine.

“I hope that it performs to those levels.  We did a little piece of it at Comic-Con and people went crazy.  It looked great.  The script is good.  We’re doing a couple re-shoots next week, but I’m encouraged.”

“Iron Man 3” brings in a new director, Shane Black, so what did Cheadle offer about his new director.

“It was good.  We had a good time.  It’s a really good cast.  It’s a very interesting script.  It was a lot of fun.”

Cheadle dodges details, comments on the Iron Patriot armor and jokes about more spoilers.

“I’m not supposed to say that he kills Robert Downey Jr.’s character.  Is that a spoiler?  That would be a spoiler.  You knew that was coming.  You read the comic books.  No.  I will just say that the buddy relationship that these guys have gets tighter.  The third act set piece for the big finale is bigger and badder.  It’s just a lot more.”

The “Hotel Rwanda” star looked ahead to season 2 of “House of Lies.”

“There’s tons of stuff.  We consult a casino owner.  That’s takes up a large part of it because he’s a huge client.  Bess Armstrong comes in, and she plays the new head of Galweather Stern, since we got rid of Galweather in the last episode.  So, it’s just all getting more and more intertwined, especially with my relationship with Kristen Bell’s character.  It’s going further and further.”

The Showtime comedy series “House of Lies” follows Marty Kaan (Don Cheadle) and his team of management consultants, who know how to play the corporate game better than anyone, by using every dirty trick in the book to woo powerful CEOs and close huge deals.  In Season 2, the team will not only be learning to adjust to the new Galweather Stern, after how the company was left at the end of last season, but Marty and his co-worker, Jeannie Van Der Hooven (Kristen Bell), will be trying to figure out exactly what happened during their very drunken night together.

Cheadle is nearly every scene of “Lies” and talks about the intense work schedule, but admits he likes the involvement.

“Yeah.  I know what’s happening on the ground.  I’m seeing all the scripts earlier and seeing all the cuts and every take.  I’m doing all of that stuff that the producer’s responsibilities include.  But, once we get on the set and we’re living those characters, it’s not me running anything.  If anything, I’m trying to push them in front of me and draft them, a lot of times.  I think this show can’t exist unless it gets richer and deeper, on all those fronts.  I’m always encouraging the writers and [the actors] to give input into who they want to be and how these characters will flesh out, over the years.  I hope this is something that lasts a long time.  I like my day job. ”

Check out the complete interview here.

“Iron Man 3” arrives in theaters May 3, 2013 and “House of Lies” debuts January 13, 2013.