10 Actors That Totally Overprepared For A Role
6. Jamie Foxx Glued His Eyes Shut - Ray
Whilst we are currently enjoying a revival of biopics, particularly about the lives and times of some of the world’s greatest musicians, Jamie Foxx’s turn as blues icon Ray Charles came before this new wave. In 2004, Foxx auditioned for the opportunity to play the legendary performer which, as he described it, was “like waiting in line at the Doctor’s”.
Whilst Foxx had to prove himself to the director and the studio, Ray Charles himself was also a step that he would have to overcome. In Charles’ words, “if you can play the blues, you can play me” and the two jammed on a piano together until the musician gave Foxx his seal of approval.
But the actor wanted to do right by Charles and really embody the man’s struggles as the musician who was famously blind for most of his life. In order to achieve this, Foxx opted to glue his eyelids shut with prosthetics before shooting every day which often ran as long as 14 straight hours. At first, the actor suffered panic attacks set on by claustrophobia but they passed over time.
By 2004, Foxx had begun to show that he could do it all, from comedy to action, but it was commitment to character in Ray that catapulted him to stardom.