In an unearthed 2017 interview, Jamie Foxx tells Howard Stern about his experience meeting Sidney Poitier, right before Foxx won his Oscar for portraying Ray Charles in the 2004 biopic Ray.
Foxx recalls Oprah Winfrey reaching out to him, “I get a call, and on the other end of the phone I hear, ‘Hi Jamie Foxx. This is Oprah. You’re blowing it, Jamie Foxx.’” Foxx describes an intervention that took place at Quincy Jones’ house, led by Winfrey, who was worried about his drinking and partying after the massive success of the biopic.
“There’s all these old black actors from the ‘60s and ‘70s. They just want to say good luck. They wanna say ‘don’t blow it.’ You know me, I was going hard.”
Winfrey then introduces Foxx to Hollywood titan Sidney Poitier.
“I say, ‘Hello Mr. Portior.’ I’m welling up. He says, ‘I want to give you one thing. I want to give you responsibility. When I saw your performance, it made me grow two inches.’ I breakdown. It was actually Sidney’s birthday. They made me understand the significance of it. It was groundbreaking.”
Sidney Portier, a legendary actor, became the first Black male actor to win an Oscar in 1964. He stared in monumental films such as Porgy and Bess and A Raisin In The Sun which made him one of the most successful actors of his time. He passed away this week at the age of 94.
You can watch Foxx’s interview with Howard Stern above.
