The iconic movie role Jamie Foxx admitted was “tough”
In the early 1990s, Jamie Foxx arrived on the entertainment scene for the first time as part of the cast of the sketch comedy show In Living Color. That early initial success eventually led to the Texas-born actor and comedian getting his own show while taking his first steps into the film industry with a series of notable performances.
Efforts in the likes of Booty Call and Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday began to establish Foxx in Hollywood, and he cemented his position with further turns in Michael Mann’s Ali and Collateral. The future looked bright for Foxx, and since his early days, he has become one of American cinema’s most notable and beloved figures.
Of course, one cannot even conjure up an image of Foxx in their mind without immediately recalling his stunning Academy Award-winning performance as the legendary soul musician Ray Charles in the 2004 Taylor Hackford biographical musical drama Ray, an effort that has rung through the cinematic ages ever since.
Also starring Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell, Harry Lennix, Terrence Howard and Regina King, Ray tells the life story of the blind singer, songwriter and pianist Charles, known by the nicknames ‘The Genius’ and ‘Brother Ray’ and loved for his combination of the blues, jazz, R&B and gospel genres that pioneers soul music.
Foxx’s performance was universally championed, while five further Oscar nominations arrived for the film itself, including a ‘Best Sound Mixing’ win. Tragically, Charles himself had been set to attend a screening of the film, but passed away at the age of 93 around four months before its premiere due to liver failure.
Naturally, Foxx was tasked with portraying Charles’ blindness as well as his voice and mannerisms, and the actor once spoke of the challenges he faced in the role. “It was tough because after six hours, you lose perception of your surroundings, and then you begin to notice voices a lot more,” the actor told the BBC.
He added: “When they glued my eyes together for the prosthetics I even had to keep it that way for lunch, which was tough, but we couldn’t afford the time to remove them and put them on again. We couldn’t afford it. But losing the weight was tough too, because Ray was a smaller guy than me. I went from 190 to 157 pounds.”
So, there were several difficult performative facets that Foxx had to contend with when playing the legendary pianist, although, judging from his excellent performance, it was clear that he took the challenge well in his stride. While Charles did not manage to see the final cut of the film before he died, he was at least able to visit Foxx before its production began.
In the BBC interview, Foxx spoke of the time he was able to play piano with Charles, which he admitted was “nerve-wracking.” However, when Charles finally arrived and the two sat down together at the piano, he told Foxx to “quit worrying” and have confidence in his playing abilities.
Charles proceeded to blow Foxx away with his knowledge of music, particularly in genres he had no idea he could play. When Foxx made a mistake, Charles coolly told him, “The notes are right underneath your fingers; all you’ve got to do is take your time to play the right ones.” And that’s precisely what Foxx did throughout his performance as Charles.
