Jamie Foxx has apparently been reading his Hollywood handbook, and is making a strong case for a best actor award for his performance as Ray Charles, in the biopic Ray.
Item 1: Disability – The academy loves physically or mentally challenged protagonists who triumph over adversity. For his role, Foxx wore prosthetics for a month to mimic blindness, the plight suffered by the late, great Ray Charles. Playing blind has led Al Pacino to his Best Actor trophy in 1992 for Scent of A Woman and playing a mentally ill, masterful musician had Geoffrey Rush singing Oscar’s song in 1996 for Shine.
Item 2: Paying Homage – Stars of biopics who effectively grasp the essence of the person they are portraying without doing a lame impersonation have been Academy favorites for a long time. Will Smith nabbed a nomination for Ali and Denzel Washington scored one for Malcolm X. Though neither of these actors took home the trophy on Oscar night, Nicole Kidman’s portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours and Charlize Theron’s Monster, Aileen Wuornos nabbed the best actress Oscar for the past 2 years.
Item 3: Physical transformation – Gaining weight, losing weight, prosthetic noses all can lead to Oscar. Nicole’s nose in The Hours could arguably explain her edging out Renee Zellweger’s song and dance act in Chicago. Foxx lost a lot of weight prior to playing Charles’ song.
If these are the top three items in an Academy voter’s checklist, Jamie Foxx should start writing his acceptance speech now. Yet he remains humble. At a press conference in Toronto, where Ray was premiering at the Toronto Film Festival this past weekend, Foxx shyly responded to the Oscar buzz saying, “'I accept it in the sense of that it brings more attention to the project.'
He is right to keep it all in perspective. One of the other items on academy voters’ checklists is paying your dues. Foxx has been around for 15 years, primarily in B-movies and comedic roles, as well as a television series on WB. However, it was just this year that audiences and critics started to really notice Foxx, after his well-received performance alongside Tom Cruise in Collateral. With Ray’s release approaching, this could be the year that catapult’s Foxx to Denzel Washington status in Hollywood. But like Denzel, Foxx may have to wait for his Oscar. In years to come Foxx may star in a mediocre flick like Training Day, and pick up the statue he deserved for Malcolm X….I mean Ray.
