Don Cheadle Has a Private Nickname for the Obamas, and They Made Him Swear Not to Tell
Don Cheadle has logged more than 50 film credits, earned a Golden Globe, and spent years suiting up as War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What he had never done, until this month, was walk out onto a Broadway stage.
That changed April 16, when Proof, David Auburn's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play, opened at the Booth Theatre with Cheadle making his Broadway debut opposite Ayo Edebiri, who is also appearing on Broadway for the first time. The production is directed by Thomas Kail (Hamilton) and co-produced by Barack and Michelle Obama through their company Higher Ground, marking the Obamas' own debut as Broadway producers.
Appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week, Cheadle was loose and funny about what it's actually like to have two former presidents of the United States sitting in the audience watching you work.
He said he tries not to know when they're coming. 'I don't want to change anything,' he told Colbert. 'It's a very egalitarian space.' The Obamas apparently did not get the memo, they told him in advance. He handled it, but acknowledged there's an inherent weirdness to the situation.
There's also, it turns out, an inherent weirdness to whatever he calls them in private. Colbert asked directly. Cheadle confirmed he does have a name, or names, for them, but said he's not allowed to say what they are. 'That's part of the deal,' he said. The crowd loved it. (Colbert suggested 'Pooky and Stretch').
Related: The Obamas Announce They Are Heading to Broadway
Cheadle also admitted, with some pleasure, that he overacted during the first week when his family packed the house. 'I went big,' he said. He caught himself doing it and noted the impulse to stop, turn to his relatives in the crowd, and essentially say 'see? This is working out.'
Proofcenters on Catherine, a young woman who spent years caring for her father Robert, a brilliant but mentally ill mathematics professor. After his death, a notebook surfaces containing what may be a major mathematical proof, and the question of who actually wrote it drives the play. Cheadle plays Robert; Edebiri plays Catherine. The cast also includes two-time Tony winner Kara Young and Jin Ha.
The revival runs through July 19 at the Booth Theatre. For the Obamas' Higher Ground, which has won an Oscar, six Emmys, and two Grammys across film, television, and podcasting, it's the company's first venture into live theater.
Cheadle couldn't see the play during its original 2000 Broadway run. He was doing Topdog/Underdog at the Public Theatre at the time. Twenty-five years later, he's in it.
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This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 1:09 PM.