Don Cheadle and Ayo Edebiri worked in the Broadway revival of Proof, turning them into a father-daughter duo on stage.
Despite starring in a project for the first time, the pair says they effortlessly stepped into the characters in what depicted a troubled family on the show.
The pair gelled in without much effort, so much so that Cheadle, who already has two daughters, says he goes into full dad mode on the show, checking on The Bear actress offstage to see whether she’s been using her phone lately.
“I do check up and see what time she’s going to bed. And when she’s texting too late, I’m like, ‘Hey, we do have a show tomorrow!'” he tells CBS News.
Edebiri, on the other hand, was in awe of Cheadle, stating she was over the moon when a role alongside the Iron Man star was offered. “He’s on, like, my Mount Rushmore of actors.”
In Proof, messy family dynamics are laid bare, with Cheadle playing Robert, a mathematical rockstar who is suffering from mental health issues.
While his daughter, Edebiri, portrays Catherine, his daughter is focusing on caring for her ageing father while putting her life on pause.
The role, the actress tells, made her reflect on her personal life, and at some point the child becomes the caretaker after being asked about it.
“It’s kind of hard not to. It’s a weird thing that we all go through that you don’t realise you’re going to go through – when it changes and all of a sudden you realise, like, ‘Oh, now I’m taking care of my parents. Now my parent’s sort of my child.'”
Cheadle’s Proof is performing at the Booth Theatre in New York City