NOVEMBER 1 2008
AMERICANWAY 49
J A M I E F O X X
Troubled, homeless, and possibly a genius?
Forget it— that’sAcademy catnip.
But even ifhe somehowdoesn’tmake the
short list, Foxxwillmerelykeepdoingwhat
he’s been doing: looking for high-caliber
workwith directors he trusts, always ready
to return to Terrell, never afraid of a curse
ormuch else.
thenwatching the way he played and then
listening to his speech pattern and every-
thing like that. It was every walk, every
twitch, every little thing that you couldpos-
siblybring to light.”
Theearlywordon
TheSoloist
isthatFoxx’s
careful studyhaspaidoff.Hemightnotwin
anotherOscar, but he’llmore than likely be
nominated. Which isn’t terribly surprising.
So insteadof playing it safewithhis next
project, Foxx decided to test that luck —
and to seekout his riskiest role todate.
Capturing the starring role
in thismonth’s
TheSoloist
— the true story
ofNathaniel Ayers, a schizophrenic home-
lessmusicianwhodreams of playing at the
WaltDisneyConcertHall, and the
LosAn-
gelesTimes
columnist (RobertDowney Jr.)
who tries to help him get there— started
with a flight to London to meet director
JoeWright.
“Sometimes, you don’t know what your
persona is saying,” Foxx says. “Joe didn’t
knowme. Ididn’twanthimtogetthewrong
idea that maybe I wasn’t serious or serious
about acting. Being from across the pond,
he was really serious about the process of
acting, so I wanted to let him know I was
serious about it, and if he would consider
me, I couldbring something to this role.”
That detail alone successfully summa-
rizes Foxx’s lack of entitlement. The role
of Ayers is tailor-made for Foxx, its mix
of weighty drama and musical skill lying
squarely in his wheelhouse. There are few
actors inHollywood soperfectly suited to it
and even fewer with the kinds of skins on
the wall Foxx possesses. He was very likely
at the top ofWright’s list anyway. Yet Foxx
flew toLondononhisowndime toconvince
thedirector that he couldplay thepart.
It’s important to point out details when
talkingaboutFoxx,becausedetailsarewhat
definehisperformances.He’snot aMethod
actor, but he does have a method. For his
Jarhead
role, for example, he got a tattoo
on the back of his head.Hewasn’t asked to
do it, and it’s not seen in the film. But that
helpedmake the character for him. “Some-
thing togive it an edge,” he says.
As with
Ray
, Foxx’s latest project gave
him a chance to
become
a character rather
than inventone.Heworked forayear tobe-
come believable as a virtuoso on cello and
violin. He met with Ayers, taking note of
every gesture. Some actors avoid meeting
their real-life counterparts when working
on a biopic, worrying that itmight corrupt
their take on the material. Foxx, though,
relishes suchopportunities.
“It helps to grab the nuance of the char-
acter by getting a chance tomeet him and
makehisDNApart ofmyDNA,” Foxx says.
“Knowing how to play the instrument and
ZACCRAIN
is a senior editor at
DMagazine
.
