The role Jamie Foxx got cosmetic surgery for: “I didn’t have a choice”
Certain movies feel as though they’ve been specifically designed for the sole purpose of capturing awards season attention, and no offence to anyone who was involved, but Jamie Foxx‘s The Soloist definitely came across as one of them.
Inspired by the true story of Nathaniel Ayers – a musical prodigy who attended Juilliard before mental health issues saw him hospitalised and ultimately diagnosed with schizophrenia – he was living on the streets until an encounter with journalist Steve Lopez brought widespread recognition to his experience.
Director Joe Wright was one of the fastest-rising directorial talents in the industry after his first two features, Atonement and Pride & Prejudice, hit big with critics and gathered a combined total of 11 Academy Award nominations, while Robert Downey Jr played Lopez in his first role since a banner year saw Iron Man and his Oscar-nominated turn in Tropic Thunder transform him from also-ran to superstar.
Meanwhile, Foxx already had an Oscar under his belt for headlining biographical drama Ray, never mind a script hailing from Oscar-nominated Erin Brockovich writer Susannah Grant, cinematography from two-time nominee Seamus McGarvey, and a score from Oscar winner Dario Marianelli.
On paper, The Soloist was almost the very definition of Oscar bait, which forced Foxx into some drastic measures to fully immerse himself into the part of Ayers. Enlisting his dentist, the actor had one of his teeth removed with a chisel after he informed the Sydney Morning Herald that his pearly whites weren’t convincing enough.
“My teeth look like a piano. If I am dressed as a homeless person and then you see these great teeth, it would be ridiculous,” he explained. “I had them chiselled down and they looked a little crooked. It worked and it gave more authenticity to being homeless.”
Foxx would remain in character for the remainder of the shoot, even when he was confronted by Steven Spielberg. “I didn’t want to stay in character, believe me. But I didn’t have a choice,” he continued. “I bumped into Steven Spielberg one day during filming and he asked me how I was doing. When I asked why, he said, ‘That role you’re playing, it can be a little touch and go.'”
The aftermath required the star to forego the chisel in favour of a cosmetic procedure called tooth bonding, which uses composite resins to replicate and replace the structure of the missing teeth. It was an admirable show of commitment, but was it worth it in the long run? In a word, no.
The Soloist bombed hard at the box office and didn’t come anywhere near to recouping its $60 million production budget, all while being greeted with a shrug of indifference from anyone who actually ended up catching it on the big screen. It didn’t even land a single award nomination from any voting body, either, quickly being lost to the sands of time as Oscar bait gone terribly awry.
