One of the most talented Hollywood actors, Jamie Foxx, has given some iconic roles in his career. The actor has worked in numerous box office hits like Django Unchained, Day Shift, Collateral, Baby Driver, White House Down, and others. However, the film that earned him his first Academy Award was Ray. Foxx played the character of blind legendary musician Ray Charles.
Foxx had to do a lot of preparation for the role- from mastering piano to gluing his eyes shut for authenticity in the film. However, it was nothing less than a nightmare for the Amazing Spider-Man star to keep his eyes shut for hours.
Jamie Foxx opens up on using prosthetics for gluing his eyes for Ray
Jamie Foxx’s one of the most memorable performances includes the 2004 film, Ray. The actor took on the daunting task of playing the ace musician, Ray Charles. The film won him an Oscar, and the actor was widely appreciated for his performance and commitment to the film.
In the film, the actor had his eyes glued shut to understand the difficulties of the blind artist’s life. He shared with Tribute,
“Imagine having your eyes glued shut for 14 hours a day. That’s your jail sentence.”
In the same interview, Foxx called the experience as the most difficult part of the shoot,
“Not being able to see was tough because I put the prosthetics on my eyes so that I really couldn’t see a thing for 12 or 14 hours a day.”
Jamie Foxx’s Ray was also a commercial success, grossing $124.7 million against the budget of $40 million.
Jamie Foxx realized the value of vision with his role in Ray
The actor shared in the interview that the long hours of wearing the prosthetics were not an easy task. He also shared that he realized the importance of having vision or proper hearing. He wondered what would be worse, impaired vision or impaired hearing.
He revealed,
“It makes you think: What would you rather give up your sight or your ability to hear? Most people say hearing because they want to see the colors or the mountains and they want to see the beauty of what the world has to offer.”
“For Ray to have had that snatched from him, and for me to have had that snatched from me every single day while I was making this, was tough. So I understand a person who is sentenced to that must be a tough thing for a person.”
The actor shared that he had an enlightening experience portraying such a character, which changed his career. He shared that he got the chance to show the world that he can excel in drama projects. Jamie Foxx shared that his goal was to do his best in all his projects. He recalled,
“I gotta go do my thing. My jokes have got to be funny. Whatever I do has got to be great. When I first got on In Living Color I noticed it was not like you thought it was going to be. If you weren’t on time, if you got there at 10:01 you have to explain that one minute. And it was a serious situation.”
Foxx shared that Ray was a big challenge for him, which he accomplished. The movie is available for rent on Apple TV.
Source- Tribute
