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      *Don Cheadle will most certainly give Jamie Foxx a run for his money in the Best Actor Oscar race for his starring role in “Hotel Rwanda,” opening Christmas day.

     The intense film recounts the compelling story of Rwandan hotel manager Paul Ruseabagina, who secretly used his position to shelter over a thousand refugees during the genocide crisis.

      The film marks the last of three Cheadle projects to be released this holiday season. The first is today’s opening of “After the Sunset,” opposite Pierce Brosnan and Selma Hayek as master thieves who have trouble remaining retired in a tropical paradise.

      Cheadle, who turns 40 on Nov. 29, portrays Kingpin, a suave gangster who entices Brosnan’s Max into another heist in order to financially “help” the poor people on the island. 

      “Pierce is a classy guy, real team player,” Cheadle told us yesterday during an interview at the St. Regis Hotel in Los Angeles. “It’s great to do these movies and kind of create these little satellite families that are all out there,” which is exactly what happened during the filming of “Ocean’s Eleven,” and its sequel “Ocean’s Twelve,” opening Dec 10.   

      “When the cameras aren’t rolling, it’s not much different than when the cameras are rolling, it’s just fun,” Cheadle says of his A-list co-stars George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac and Catherine Zeta Jones. “Really, [director] Steven [Soderbergh] had to do all of the heavy lifting in order to keep those knuckleheads in line.

      “I think the film is better than ‘Ocean’s Eleven’,” he adds. “It’s a lot more cinematic, it’s a lot more Technicolor, the music is more exciting – everything about it is just more.  We went all over the world, so you’re really getting to see all the different views and geographical locations, and they’re all incorporated very well into the story.  Steven did a great job, I don’t know how he did it. Everyday on the set, we were like, ‘Does he really know what he’s doing?’ But you gotta believe in Steven, because he always brings it. Always.”

      On Dec 1, Cheadle will be honored with the Gotham Actor Award for his body of work in New York, as previously reported. If this is the first time you’ve heard of the Gotham Awards, even though it’s currently celebrating its 14th year, you’re not alone. 

      “Given that I hadn’t heard of a Gotham Award until a couple of months ago, I think it’s good because I wasn’t gassed up,” he laughs, when asked his feelings about receiving the honor. “I was like, oh, well that’s fantastic. I love that someone wants to recognize my – quote/unquote – body of work.”

      He continues: “I was talking to my dad and he was like, ‘Can you have a body of work at 40? That seems like a dead guy award, but go get it.’”