Post by Emerald City on Oct 27, 2004 18:09:42 GMT -5
By Anthony Breznican
Looking for inspiration, Jamie Foxx didn't see it in Ray Charles — but he could hear it.
The 36-year-old actor is winning raves for his portrayal of the genius behind classics such as "What'd I Say" and "Georgia On My Mind," who died in June at age 73, shortly after filming of "Ray" was completed.
Charles was renowned not only for his skill at the piano and his gritty, world-wise voice, but also for fusing the soul-soaring feel of gospel with the bad-boy attitudes of jazz, blues and rock.
Sightless since age seven, sound was his everything.
Preparing for the role, Foxx was invited to meet with Charles. After talking a while, they sat down together at a piano.
"He came in and he put his stamp on me," Foxx told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "We played tandem piano. We played the blues together. He said, 'If you can play the blues, then you can play this part.' So we played the blues."
No musical slouch, Foxx is a classically trained pianist and credible singer who released an R&B album in 1994. Most recently, he sang the hook on the smash Kanye West/Twista rap single "Slow Jamz" — but that doesn't put him anywhere close to Charles.
"I hit one wrong note and he stopped," Foxx recalled.
"'Why'd you do that?'" Foxx says in a dead-on imitation of Charles' raspy growl.
"He said, 'Don't do that. Don't hit wrong notes.' And I was like, 'Damn ... I'm just learning.' And he said, 'No, no, no ... don't hit wrong notes.'"
That sour note on the keyboard resulted in a sour note in their meeting. But it quickly passed, and Foxx described it as a kind of revelation.
"I fixed it and that was the gateway to Ray," he said. "Ray has to have sound in harmony at all times."
Foxx discovered this talking to others who knew Charles intimately — both his sweet, charming stage persona and the backstage Ray, who could be temperamental, especially in a noisy, crowded room.
"People thought he was a (jerk) because he'd tell them to shut up," said Foxx, adding that he was interested in why this annoyed Charles. "Really, if you can't see then there is no way to tune it out."
For Charles, cacophony was equivalent to having your eyesight overtaken with flashes of static.
Looking for inspiration, Jamie Foxx didn't see it in Ray Charles — but he could hear it.
The 36-year-old actor is winning raves for his portrayal of the genius behind classics such as "What'd I Say" and "Georgia On My Mind," who died in June at age 73, shortly after filming of "Ray" was completed.
Charles was renowned not only for his skill at the piano and his gritty, world-wise voice, but also for fusing the soul-soaring feel of gospel with the bad-boy attitudes of jazz, blues and rock.
Sightless since age seven, sound was his everything.
Preparing for the role, Foxx was invited to meet with Charles. After talking a while, they sat down together at a piano.
"He came in and he put his stamp on me," Foxx told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "We played tandem piano. We played the blues together. He said, 'If you can play the blues, then you can play this part.' So we played the blues."
No musical slouch, Foxx is a classically trained pianist and credible singer who released an R&B album in 1994. Most recently, he sang the hook on the smash Kanye West/Twista rap single "Slow Jamz" — but that doesn't put him anywhere close to Charles.
"I hit one wrong note and he stopped," Foxx recalled.
"'Why'd you do that?'" Foxx says in a dead-on imitation of Charles' raspy growl.
"He said, 'Don't do that. Don't hit wrong notes.' And I was like, 'Damn ... I'm just learning.' And he said, 'No, no, no ... don't hit wrong notes.'"
That sour note on the keyboard resulted in a sour note in their meeting. But it quickly passed, and Foxx described it as a kind of revelation.
"I fixed it and that was the gateway to Ray," he said. "Ray has to have sound in harmony at all times."
Foxx discovered this talking to others who knew Charles intimately — both his sweet, charming stage persona and the backstage Ray, who could be temperamental, especially in a noisy, crowded room.
"People thought he was a (jerk) because he'd tell them to shut up," said Foxx, adding that he was interested in why this annoyed Charles. "Really, if you can't see then there is no way to tune it out."
For Charles, cacophony was equivalent to having your eyesight overtaken with flashes of static.
