How Jamie Foxx brought out the best in Al Pacino in ‘Any Given Sunday’
Oliver Stone’s 1999 sports drama Any Given Sunday boasts a brilliant cast, including the likes of Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid and Jamie Foxx, among several other high-profile names. The film was based partially on former NFL player Pat Toomay’s 1984 novel of the same name.
Pacino played the part of the fictional coach Tony D’Amato, who becomes estranged from his wife and children because of his devotion to his job. One of the most iconic moments comes in the locker room when Pacino delivers a speech to his players, urging them to give all they have in order to win.
Jamie Foxx played the third-string quarterback Willie Beamen, and his character was in the room when Pacino delivered one of his finest, most rousing cinematic moments. In fact, Foxx claimed that he played a pivotal part in getting Pacino to give his speech in the way he ought to have done. Foxx explained: “That speech that everybody talks about. All football players know this because they play Any Given Sunday before a lot of these games. He was having a tough time because this wasn’t his forte. So, when he was doing the speech, he was doing it like a speech.”
It’s surprising to hear Foxx, who had his first dramatic role in Any Given Sunday, claiming that he thought that Pacino was somewhat beyond his limits. However, that recognition gave Foxx the courage to confront Pacino and suggest that he deliver his lines in a different manner. He continued: “I went up to him, I said, ‘Mr Pacino, can I speak to you humbly?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘When you’re talking to them, you’re not their coach; you’re their father. A lot of these guys here came from broken homes, came from the hood, didn’t have no father in the household.”
Evidently, Foxx had an understanding of what football players – especially those from broken homes – need to hear from their coach. They wanted to look up to him as something more than just a sports advisor; they wanted life advice. “Our coach, and anybody could tell you, Byron Scott, anybody could tell you that our coach was basically our father figures because they were with us more than our parents,” Foxx went on. “I said, ‘So when you make that speech this time, talk to them like you’re their daddy. Oliver Stone said, ‘And action!’”
From there, with a newfound appreciation for what his players would want to hear, he famously said, “Every inch! Because we know when we add up all those inches, we know that’s gonna make the fucking difference between winning and losing”. The lines long live in the memory of Foxx and fans of the film alike.
