Don Cheadle won’t use the F-word in D.C.

The similarities between Hollywood and Capitol Hill are well-documented, and for at least one A-list actor, this makes it easy to come to D.C.

But it doesn’t make it fun.

Don Cheadle, the star of “Hotel Rwanda” and the “Ocean’s Eleven” series, told ITK that the halls of Congress and the boulevards of La-La Land are fundamentally similar for him, both filled with “people running around trying to get attention for their particular project. But they need to marshal enough troops, and the right ones, to move it forward.”

But asked whether he has fun lobbying Congress, he paused. “I’m not going to use the F-word in an interview.”

Cheadle is in town this week lobbying on behalf of the Global Conservation Act, a bill that would mobilize U.S. diplomatic resources to fight environmental depletion overseas. He spent Wednesday meeting with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. On Thursday, he’ll do a panel lunch with Dr. Jane Goodall and Reps. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) and Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.).

As for whether the actor will attend President Barack Obama’s state dinner Wednesday night, Cheadle speculated that his invitation had probably “gotten lost in the mail.”
But he wasn’t worried about it. “Apparently, you don’t need an invitation to get into those things,” he quipped.

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