After graduating from the California Institute of the Arts in 1986, Don Cheadle would go on to appear in various film and tv show roles until he truly got recognized in the mid-90s. By the time the mid-2000s rolled around, Cheadle found himself with several nominations and wins from the most prestigious awards ceremonies in film.

Then, by the 2010s, he achieved superstardom thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As for the list: several of these films showcase Cheadle’s comedic chops, while others display his penchant for drama. They’re some of the best he has to offer, and they’re definitely the ones that put him on the map. All that said, let’s get to it: the movies that made Don Cheadle’s career.

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7 Traffic (2000)

     USA Films

This was the second collaboration between Steven Soderbergh and Don Cheadle, and it’d be far from the last. More on that later. Here in Traffic (2000) — revolving around shifting perspectives on the drug industry, with other actors like Benicio Del Toro and Michael Douglass — Don Cheadle plays Montel Gordon, an agent for the DEA.

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He shares tremendous on-screen chemistry with Luis Guzman, who plays the undercover partner of his character. Together, they provided a lightheartedness to an otherwise darkly-toned plot, and helped render Traffic a modern classic.

6 Boogie Nights (1997)

     New Line Cinema

Perhaps the definitive film of Paul Thomas Anderson’s career, Boogie Nights, released in 1997, was also one that helped kickstart Cheadle’s career. It was the most critically-acclaimed film he’d acted in up to that point, and it remains one of the best films still. He didn’t have the largest of roles, but it surely was memorable.

As a country-music loving cowboy among scores of people in the pornography business, Cheadle’s Buck Swope was different for all the right reasons. He created a particular dynamic whenever he appeared on the screen that always stole the respective scene, and the movie was better off for it.

5 Crash (2004)

     Lions Gate Films

Though widely remembered for its controversial wins at the Academy Awards — which included one for Best Picture — Crash (2004) will also be looked back on for its ensemble cast. Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Terrence Howard, Brendan Frasier, and of course, Don Cheadle.

Here, he plays Detective Graham Waters, who’s investigating a recent string of murders that revolve around racial tension. He received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor from the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and he remains one of the highlights of the film nearly twenty years down the line.

4 Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

     Warner Bros. Pictures

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Ocean’s Eleven (2001) was by no means among the better performances of Cheadle’s career. His cockney accent displayed is one of the worst-reviewed accents in recent times, and he was on the wrong end of decade-long Hollywood jokes because of it.

It ranks this high due to the exposure it gave him. Before he appeared in the film listed next, this was the highest-grossing movie that Cheadle had ever acted in, bar none. For that, it will always be partly remembered throughout his filmography.

3 Iron Man 2 (2010)

     Marvel Studios

In 2010, Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard as James “Rhodie” Rhodes, also known as War Machine in Iron Man 2 (2010). He would reprise this role five more times in some of the highest-grossing movies ever made, all within the Marvel Cinematic Universe — a space to put any and every actor involved on the map if they weren’t on there already.

He’s set to lead a film in the franchise for the first time: Armor Wars. Though no release date has been set, the movie has been confirmed by Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios. Considering this is the most profitable movie franchise of all time, that’s a decently-sized role right there.

2 Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)

     Sony Pictures Releasing

The allure of Mouse Alexander as a character can be attributed in part to the screenplay by Carl Franklin, who also directed the film. However, what creates such a strong resonance with the audience regarding Mouse’s character is undoubtedly Cheadle’s performance. Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) turned Hollywood heads to look in his direction as an up-and-coming actor, and the one that got him roles like with Paul Thomas Anderson and Steven Soderbergh.

At the Academy Awards, Kevin Spacey won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Usual Suspects (1995). Also nominated was Brad Pitt, who put on the performance of a lifetime in Twelve Monkeys (1995). But Cheadle should have at least been nominated. With Devil in a Blue Dress, he didn’t just steal every scene he was in — he took every piece of equipment when filming was complete and outright hijacked the production.

1 Hotel Rwanda (2004)

     MGM Distribution Co.

While Iron Man 2 and its sequels resurged Cheadle’s career and established him as a household name, true film fans had long before recognized the chops of this talented thespian. Take Devin in a Blue Dress, for example. It’s the best performance of Cheadle’s career, but the Oscar competition was steep that year.

With Hotel Rwanda(2004), however, Don Cheadle was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Actor. It remains the only Oscar nod of his career, and although he didn’t win, it ultimately solidified thisas the definitive Don Cheadle film.