Hollywood is filled with amazing stories about stars who were discovered in unusual places or cast for life-changing films. While that’s nice, triple threat Jamie Foxx, 52, had a very harsh experience when he auditioned for 1999 film Any Given Sunday.
The comedian sat down for a roundtable discussion with The Hollywood Reporter to share his story. Foxx was auditioning in front of director Oliver Stone for the football movie when Stone interrupted Foxx to let him know how much he didn’t care for his audition.
“When I was on Any Given Sunday, I remember Oliver Stone when I first auditioned, he was like, ‘You’re horrible,'” Foxx said. “And I was like, ‘What?’ Because I was a television actor. So, everything I did was loud. ‘YEAH, SO YOU BETTER UNDERSTAND THIS WITH THE FOOTBALL IN THE AIR, MAN.’ He was like, ‘Get the f**k out of here.'”
Foxx said he “learned from that toughness.” The Oscar winner eventually earned a role on Any Given Sunday, but that wasn’t until he learned the art of speaking quietly as an actor in a film.
Foxx also admitted in the interview that he is a crier. His ability to be emotional helps him to exert that energy in his acting scenes.
“Well, I’m just emotional. I’m always crying…Oh yeah, I cry for everything. I’ll be crying about stuff like: My accountant just called and said, “You tried to buy a private plane?!” I’m like, “Fuck! Run the scene! Shit be goin’ through my life!”
Foxx has a movie coming out titled Just Mercy. The Destin Daniel Cretton drama follows the life of civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson as he tries to free a man sentenced to death row. Foxx plays the man on death row.
Michael B. Jordan, Brie Larson, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Tim Blake Nelson are cast in the MACRO production, based on a true story.
Just Mercy is slated for release on January 10, 2020.
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