Don Cheadle jokes about Emmy nomination: 'I don't really get it'

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 7/15/21

Don Cheadle has been a Hollywood power player for decades, but an Emmy has eluded him despite 11 nominations dating back to 1999.

The 56-year-old actor's latest nod came in the guest actor in a drama series category for his reprisal of James Rhodes in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, one of Marvel's Disney Plus scripted original series. He appears for two scenes, but he only speaks in this one, where he asks Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) why he decided to donate Captain America's shield to a museum rather than take up the mantle himself.

Cheadle jested about the nomination after all nominees for the upcoming 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards were unveiled Tuesday morning (July 13):

thanks, well wishers. sorry, haters. agreed, ‍♂️ers. i don't really get it either. buuuuuuuuuut on we go ...
— Don" 't ask me google questions" Cheadle (@DonCheadle) July 13, 2021

step down?!? you really don't know how this emmy thing works, huh? https://t.co/JRTgDcV333
— Don" 't ask me google questions" Cheadle (@DonCheadle) July 13, 2021

i'm. not. winning. it. https://t.co/sakyJlMPXJ
— Don" 't ask me google questions" Cheadle (@DonCheadle) July 14, 2021

The Oscar nominee previously downplayed the possibility that he was going to receive a nomination while at the Los Angeles premiere of Space Jam: A New Legacy on Monday (July 12):

A New Legacy, in theaters and on HBO Max on Friday (July 16), finds LeBron James taking up Michael Jordan's Space Jam mantle 25 years after the original cult classic premiered. LeBron and the Looney Tunes must win a basketball game against the Goon Squad in order to free his son, Dom (Cedric Joe), from the digital space he has been trapped inside by Al-G Rhythm (Cheadle).

James stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this week, and he lauded Cheadle.

"He's so talented," the Los Angeles Lakers perennial All-Star and four-time NBA champion said. "It was such an honor just being on set with him, seeing his cadence, seeing his presence, seeing how he worked with other people on set. He's a beast, and I love that guy. He's a great guy, man."

The Emmys will air live Sept. 19 from the Microsoft Theater in L.A. beginning at 8 p.m. EST on CBS. Cedric the Entertainer is this year's host.

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