Being Jamie Foxx has its occupational hazards, and one of them is getting tunes stuck in your head. For awhile it was Ray Charles songs, but on a cold winter day in Manhattan it is something different: the iconic song from his new film, Annie.
"The sun'll come out tomorrow," Foxx croons, singing it sexy and low. "Sing it with me. This is no time to be shy!"
The Oscar winner is speaking from a hotel in Soho, and the song is heartfelt.
"I really hope the sun does come out," he says. "I'm freezing my butt off. I'm a California guy who isn't really a huge fan of winter."
Annie, opening nationwide Friday, is a new take on the 1977 Broadway musical by Thomas Meehan, Martin Charnin and Charles Strouse, itself based on Harold Gray's classic comic strip Little Orphan Annie (1924-1974, 1979-2010 as Annie). It casts Foxx, 47, as an updated version of Daddy Warbucks named Will Stacks, a billionaire who is running for mayor of New York. When he saves Annie (Quvenzhane Wallis), who has run away from an orphanage, from being hit by a truck, his campaign gets a boost from his association with the charismatic orphan and he begins to get in touch with his own human side.
"This was a story I loved as a kid," Foxx says. "I watched it over and over again. I begged to go see the play because it was joyful. If there was some version of Annie playing on TV, I was there.
"It's just one of those stories that grabs you," he says. "You wanted to see Annie have a happy life. Annie made you believe that anything was possible."
The musical had been filmed once before, in 1982, and a remake had been widely discussed since the new wave of film musicals began with the Oscar-winning Chicago (2002). It wasn't easy to do, though.
"Everyone wanted to get the rights to Annie," Foxx said. "No one could get the rights."
Finally Jay-Z and Will Smith optioned the screen rights, with the idea of Smith's daughter, Willow, playing the title role in an updated production. When that didn't work out, the plans were stymied -- until an unheralded film called Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) appeared and earned an unprecedented Oscar nomination as Best Actress for its 9-year-old star, Wallis.
"Quvenzhane came along at just the right time," Foxx says. "She wasn't just the kid in the movie -- she was nominated for an Oscar and had the perfect instincts as an actress for the role.
"What I loved, in our scenes together, was that she was very real," he continues. "She could [improvise]. If the director threw something new at us, she was right there with me. And I knew that kids would find her inspiring, which was key, because there aren't a lot of great role models out there. When kids see her on that screen, they see themselves."
That aspect of the film appealed to Foxx, who in real life is the father of 5-year-old Annalise as well as 19-year-old Corinne.
"I'm the very proud father of two daughters," he says. "There were so many times on the set with Quvenzhane that I felt like a father figure to her. I wanted to give her advice -- but she didn't need any, because she's got it all together.
"The important thing onscreen was that we had that bond," Foxx says. "It just felt natural for me to have fun with her and then say, 'Now, did you do your homework? No, I mean it. What are you learning in history?'"
In real life is Foxx a protective father? Maybe even overprotective?
"I'm the worst," he admits, laughing. "I'd like to hide the girls from everybody and everything. I'm like, 'Yes, I'll take you to the concert, but nobody is talking to you.' Then I'll stand there, with my arms across my chest, blocking people to make sure that nobody bothers them.
"I give The Look," he adds, laughing. "It's that look that says, 'You don't need to be talking to her.'"
The most important part of fatherhood, Foxx continued, isn't what you say but what you do.
"You can talk about setting a positive image," he says, "or you can do it. I try to live my life a certain way, so the girls can observe.
"Otherwise my best fatherhood advice is to just give them all the great stuff you were given," Foxx says. "My grandmother gave me great advice about life, but the key was that she made me want to talk to her. I try not to judge, so the girls will come to me. I tell my girls, 'Just let me know what it is, so I can steer you through those troubled waters.'
"I do talk to my 19-year-old like a friend and a father," he adds. "I've learned that, when you always talk as just the father, it makes them feel like they can't come to you. You have to keep that door open."
It's not always Father Knows Best around the Foxx house, though.
"I'm also the biggest kid of the group," the actor says. "My youngest daughter is always like, 'Dad, when are you going to grow up?' There are times when my daughters just shake their heads."
Foxx grew up in Terrell, Texas, and was raised by his grandmother, Esther Marie Nelson, who worked as a maid and a nursery operator. By the time he was a teen, Foxx was playing piano and singing in the choir at Terrell's New Hope Baptist Church. A talented football player with dreams of playing for the Dallas Cowboys, he eventually ditched sports to study classical music and composition at United States International University in San Diego.
An open-mike night changed everything for him again, though. A previously unsuspected flair for comedy blossomed, and Foxx ended up going on the road as a stand-up comic. He joined In Living Color in 1991, and later starred in his own sitcom, The Jamie Foxx Show (1996-2001).
By then, however, acting had caught his eye. He made his screen debut with a bit part in Toys (1992), and went on to amass such credits as Any Given Sunday (1999), Ali (2001), Collateral (2004), Jarhead (2005), Miami Vice (2006), The Kingdom (2007), Horrible Bosses (2011), Django Unchained (2012) and White House Down (2013). This year he has been seen as the evil Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and has reprised his role as "fixer" Dean "M.F." Jones in Horrible Bosses 2.
He particularly enjoyed Ray (2004) and Dreamgirls (2006), which let him dust off his old musical chops.
His performance as Ray Charles in Ray earned him an Oscar as Best Actor. What's that really worth? Everything, Foxx said.
"It changes everything," he says. "You get a chance to walk in the door where only a few get to go in. Suddenly there were a lot of choices, from the popcorn movies to the more serious movies that stir you up. Choices are the gift."
An Oscar also leads into the World Series of networking, Foxx says.
"During the Oscar time, when I was at all the awards shows, I was meeting all of these people," he said, "and I'm not shy. I'd say, 'What is your number?' I got Warren Beatty's number, I got Clint Eastwood's number. It was off the hook. I have a network of people I can call about projects."
Next up for Foxx is Mean Business on North Ganson Street, which reteams him with his Django Unchained co-star Leonardo DiCaprio. He plays a demoted cop forced to work with a disgraced detective (DiCaprio) during a Midwestern cop-killing rampage.
Another key project is the short ... And She Was My Eve, about a man (Tyrin Turner) scarred early in life by unrequited love. Foxx directed, his first time behind the camera except for a handful of television episodes.
"It's my way of getting my feet wet in the director's chair," he says. "I always wanted to direct. I've been champing at the bit. I have all of these visions and, when I work with other directors, I've been watching closely."
Would he like to direct a feature film? Silly question.
"I've sat on the shoulders of some of the most incredible directors in the world, from Fuqua to Tarantino to Stone," Foxx says. "Talk about an education! So, yes, the answer is yes. Someday."
For now, though, he's content to stay on his accustomed side of the camera.
"I love doing big, important movies and then a fun comedy or Spider-Man," he said. "I don't want people to stick with any one idea of me. I want them to see the comedian in me and then go, 'Wow, there's Jamie doing great, big stunts!'"
For a man who started as a comedian, it's refreshing to have a generation of fans who think of him only as a serious actor.
"I took my daughter to Japan," the actor says, "and those fans have never seen me do a joke. When I was out there cracking jokes, they were like, 'What's with that dude?'
"It's interesting to see audiences discover something new in me," Foxx says. "It's like hitting the reset button. It's a way to avoid game fatigue, especially in this culture where people are quick to go, 'Here we go again. Can't they find somebody else?'"
Our Town on 12/18/2014