Don Cheadle recalls going full tourist in disguise with Matt Damon at height of ‘Oceans Eleven’ fame

Don Cheadle and Matt Damon had a time making "Ocean's Twelve."

After skyrocketing to fame playing Mouse in 1995's "Devil in a Blue Dress," Cheadle went on to star alongside Damon, Brad Pitt and George Clooney in the 2001 heist comedy “Ocean’s Eleven."

"That definitely did change things," he told TODAY's Willie Geist on the Sept. 8 edition of Sunday Sitdown.

Seeing how fame affected his co-stars' lives, Cheadle said he reflected on where he wanted to fall relative to the spotlight.

"Huge franchise and biggest actors in the world, you know? I mean... seeing that level of fame was in some ways a cautionary tale," he said. "I wanted to draft it. I didn’t mind being on the side and seeing it happen, but I didn’t think I wanted to be dead center in the middle of that."

Cheadle also appeared in the film's sequel, "Ocean's Twelve," which was partially filmed in Italy.

"Paparazzi’s an Italian word," Cheadle joked.

Nevertheless, Cheadle and Damon wanted to enjoy their time traveling with their families and do "touristy stuff," he said.

"We kind of put hats on and disguises and try to run around," Cheadle recalled.

He also revealed their plan for diverting attention if they attracted it.

"If anybody would come to us we’d be like, 'There’s Brad. Brad’s right over there!'" he said with a laugh. "And they’d all go that way. Then, we would just run into the shadows, jump into a car and take off."

Cheadle's acclaim only grew. In 2004, he received an Oscar nomination for his starring role in "Hotel Rwanda," and now, he appears as real-life detective J.D. Hudson in the new Peacock series, “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist.”

The series, starring Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Samuel L. Jackson and more, is based on actual events that happened during a robbery after one of Muhammad Ali's fights in 1970.

"I don’t know if you’re a big fight fan. If you go to them, every gangster from every place in the world, really descend to these fights, and there was a party after the fight for these gangsters," Cheadle told Geist. "And some other guys had the bright idea to rob the party. And that’s where we begin."

In the series, Hart takes on a different role than fans may have seen him do before.

"He really brought it," Cheadle said of Hart, who plays Gordon "Chicken Man" Williams in the show.

"This is a role where he could still be funny, and there’s levity in it for sure, and there’re times when he’s doing his Kevin thing. But there’re other times when he really had to dig deep and find another gear," he said. "He was very dedicated to that. So it was exciting to see him stretch himself."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com