"It was a fun ride and at this point in our careers, that's what you want." Jamie Foxx takes a walk down memory lane as he rewatches scenes from his classic works including 'Dreamgirls,' 'Collateral,' 'Ray,' 'In Living Color,' 'Django Unchained,' 'Back in Action' and more. BACK IN ACTION is now available on Netflix, [http://www.netflix.com/backinaction]()Director: Funmi SunmonuDirector of Photography: Grant BellEditor: Christopher JonesTalent: Jamie FoxxProducer: Emebeit BeyeneProduction Manager: Andressa PelachiProduction Coordinator: Elizabeth HymesTalent Booker: Meredith Judkins; Paige Garbarini (on set)Camera Operator: Marques SmithAudio Engineer: Justin FoxProduction Assistant: Fernando Barajas; Lauren BoucherPost Production Supervisor: Christian OlguinPost Production Coordinator: Ian BryantSupervising Editor: Doug LarsenAdditional Editor: JC ScruggsAssistant Editor: Justin Symonds
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I remember Oprah, I didn't like you playing a bad guy, Jamie Foxx.
00:04Jamie Foxx is not a bad guy.
00:07You know when Oprah starts singing.
00:09Hey Vanity Fair, I'm Jamie Foxx, a.k.a. Kendrick Lamar.
00:13And we're going to watch some scenes from some of my movies.
00:31I always knew you two were together.
00:34I always knew you two were ganging up on me.
00:37She had nothing to do with this change.
00:39Get him B. Get him B.
00:41I was always thinking of you.
00:43B and J Hud.
00:44I was always thinking of you.
00:46It's Beyonce, man.
00:48Beyonce is almost too talented for Earth.
00:52When you listen to a Beyonce record, it's like, what the f...
00:54This is some alien shit.
00:56She can sing every octave.
00:59She's like the most talented.
01:01It's so quiet.
01:03She would do her thing.
01:06And cut.
01:11She's the most talented.
01:14Who is this dude?
01:18Go ahead, hair.
01:20When you watch this movie, it's about music, right?
01:22And everybody's like, oh, Jamie Foxx is such a heel.
01:25You know where I got the most compliments?
01:28Oh, the music executives.
01:30I don't get it.
01:31Without you, what would they have done?
01:34You took that piece of coal and made it a diamond.
01:37I was like, you guys are heartless.
01:40House of assholes.
01:42I don't get it.
01:43You were valuable.
01:46I remember Oprah.
01:47I didn't like you playing a bad guy, Jamie Foxx.
01:50Jamie Foxx is not a bad guy.
01:53You know when Oprah starts singing.
01:55Jamie Foxx.
01:56But when we were putting it together, I said,
01:58if the guy isn't bad,
02:00then the other characters don't have anything to get over.
02:11When it came to the big scene where she had to say,
02:15I said, take your time with that.
02:17That song and that moment is like the one.
02:21And you watch her in the process of it
02:25really find the spirituality of that character.
02:29And we watched it on set.
02:31We watched her.
02:32I said, she just won whatever award.
02:34She just won it right there.
02:35We were at a premiere and it was like a big premiere.
02:38You know, big stars.
02:39Man, she got through singing.
02:40It was on their feet.
02:41Standing ovation in the premiere.
02:42She was amazing.
02:43All right, let's get into collateral.
02:44Yeah, collateral.
02:45Okay.
02:52If somebody had a gun to your head and said,
02:54you got to tell me what's going on with this person over here
02:57or I'm going to kill you.
03:01What is driving...
03:03Michael Mann.
03:04You know, you couldn't do it, could you?
03:05Because they would have to kill your ass
03:08because you don't know what anyone else is thinking.
03:12The car that's pulling us,
03:14the exhaust was somehow floating into the car, bro.
03:20And I had slept, you know, 12, 13 hours
03:24because it's Tom Cruise.
03:26Soon as I get in there and take a...
03:30I said, what the hell?
03:32Why am I sleeping?
03:33The director, wake your ass.
03:35I said, I don't know what's going on.
03:36And they found out that the exhaust was...
03:39So they had to switch it around because I was snoozing.
03:44You know how you fall asleep and don't know you're asleep?
03:46They hit you.
03:47Yeah, Tom, Tom.
03:49Top Gun.
03:50He was asleep too.
03:51We shot that on a video.
03:54It wasn't film.
03:55So Michael Mann loves to do long takes.
03:57I'm driving the cab.
03:59Tom's in the back.
04:01And we're just driving, but the takes were long.
04:03And we shot at night, so imagine 5 in the morning.
04:06And I was like, whew.
04:09I hope I don't kill Top Gun.
04:17Cute title. Who wrote it?
04:18I did.
04:19Ah, you wrote it.
04:21Yeah.
04:22Well, sing it to me, man.
04:24Sing it?
04:25It ain't like I can read the lyrics.
04:27Okay.
04:28Well, it's Key of G.
04:30Okay.
04:31Key of G.
04:34Yeah.
04:35Yeah, but it's a kind of Pete Johnson thing.
04:38Pete Johnson.
04:41Yeah, that's it.
04:43You liked it?
04:44Okay, here we go.
04:45Two, three, four.
04:46You can talk about the pit.
04:48Barbecue.
04:49The band was jumping.
04:51The people too, they're doing the mess around.
04:53Yeah.
04:54They're doing the mess around.
04:57Ray was crazy.
04:58Ray was something else.
05:00Ray was an independent film, so it didn't have a studio.
05:03As a matter of fact, the guy who paid for it, his name was Phil Anschutz.
05:06He's a devout Christian.
05:07He says, I'll do the movie, but the drugs bothered him.
05:12He didn't like the fact that Ray was doing drugs.
05:14So, if you put the redemptive quality, I will give you the money.
05:18But he gave us half the money first, just to get us started.
05:21Phil Anschutz comes to New Orleans to check on his investment.
05:26So, we recreated the Sanger Theater, 1967.
05:31This isn't in the movie.
05:33We got a 30-piece orchestra there, and when Phil Anschutz walks in,
05:38we're going to do a song to show him.
05:42So, he's literally transported back in 1967.
05:45He walks in.
05:46They hit me, and we do a Let the Good Times Roll.
05:50So, when he walked in,
05:51Hey, y'all, tell everybody Ray Charles in town.
05:55Got a dollar and a quarter, and I'm just ready to clown.
05:58Don't let nobody play me cheap.
06:00I got 50 cents more than I plan to keep.
06:03Now, let the good times roll.
06:05Band, shine, shine, and oh, baby.
06:10And it's like the roof came off.
06:13And then I said, I'm not going to break character.
06:15Just walk me over to Phil Anschutz.
06:19So, they walked me over to Phil Anschutz.
06:20I said, hey, man, somebody told me the money bags was here, man.
06:24We needed a couple more dollars, man.
06:26And then he wrote the check.
06:29All right, that's pretty good. Let me take it from here.
06:31Now this band's going to play from nine to one.
06:35Everybody here's going to have some fun doing the mess around.
06:41The director, when he hired me, says, listen, the only thing I got to do
06:44is I got to find somebody that can play the piano,
06:46because other than that, I can't shoot you like this.
06:49I said, oh, I play the piano.
06:50I went to college on a classical piano show.
06:52Really? Yeah, I got a scholarship.
06:55When I said that, now he wanted me to learn every single note
07:00so it looks authentic.
07:02And then I met Ray Charles.
07:04And I'm at his studio.
07:05Hey, man, good to see you, man.
07:07Good to see you, man.
07:09I said, well, Mr. Charles, I'm just trying to do the best I can to portray you.
07:12Look, baby, can you play the blues?
07:14If you can play the blues, man, you can do anything.
07:17And so there we are on dual pianos,
07:20and we start playing the blues with each other.
07:22When I hit a wrong note.
07:24Damn.
07:26You know, I get you in his ears.
07:29Now why would you do that? Why you hit that?
07:31I said, I'm sorry, Mr. Charles.
07:32I'm just trying to catch up with you.
07:34Well, hit the right note, man.
07:36You know what? That's what life is, man.
07:38Taking the time to hit the right note.
07:40I said, oh.
07:42So I took the time, hit the right note.
07:44Once we finished, he got upset.
07:45Hey, kid's got it, and he walked out.
07:47The other thing, though, is that was the old Ray Charles.
07:51So I had to find the young.
07:54So I went to Quincy Jones' house.
07:55So he goes in his room and comes out with a cassette tape.
07:58Maybe you could find something on here.
08:00First of all, I got to find a cassette player.
08:03You know, this is the 21st century.
08:05So I had to rent a car from the airport.
08:08On the cassette was a lady named Dinah Shore.
08:11She had a show back at that time, and you hear,
08:13Hi, this is Dinah Shore with the Dinah Shore Show.
08:16Here today with two wonderful musicians,
08:18Mr. Kenny Rogers and Mr. Ray Charles.
08:21And in the back, you hear the young Ray.
08:23You know what, Dinah? I'm just so happy to be here.
08:25I didn't know you knew my music.
08:26That's just so grand.
08:29Just being here on your show, and I was like,
08:31Wow, that's a young Ray.
08:32Now here's how we build Ray.
08:35At one point, Dinah Shore goes,
08:37Talk about the drugs, Ray, and what you've been dealing with.
08:40And Ray started to stutter.
08:42Well, you know, I just try to.
08:45So I stopped the tape and I said, That's it.
08:47That's the character.
08:49The young Ray, when he's in control of everything,
08:51when he's in control of his music, things like that,
08:53he doesn't stutter.
08:55When he's asked to be responsible for his action,
08:58when he cheats on his wife and has a baby,
09:01it made him uncomfortable.
09:03So we took that as that DNA,
09:07and you see the progression of how Ray got to be Ray.
09:18Now let's meet the bachelors you didn't pick.
09:21Wanda, bachelor number one.
09:23Derek Clinton.
09:26Oh, gosh. Oh, gosh. Oh, gosh.
09:30Now say hello to bachelor number three, Steve Big Buns.
09:34This is funny.
09:36Oh, God.
09:52Now let's meet the bachelor you didn't pick.
09:54Here's bachelor number two, Lucky Paul Nelson.
10:01Not the underwear.
10:03Not the dukes. Not the dukes.
10:06You can't do that today.
10:08Even today, I mean, come on.
10:10So these are initial reactions.
10:12They didn't see me, because I would say,
10:14don't tell them how I look.
10:17I actually did part of Wanda the way I got onto the show.
10:21I wouldn't let them see what I had on until they, you know.
10:24So when they're walking around that corner,
10:26you know, it's authentic.
10:28We knew that we were doing something great
10:30in comedic cinema.
10:32Like, you don't get these types of moments often.
10:35And I don't think you actually have seen
10:37a pairing like that in generations.
10:40And you have great guys out there,
10:42Key and Peele and Saturday Night Live.
10:44But you would, comedians would give their left arm
10:47to have that type of comedic juggernaut of a sketch.
10:51Now, wearing the dress came with complications.
10:55You know, you get known for that.
10:57But the history of Wanda and the spirit of Geraldine
11:02and all of the great guys who donned these characters
11:07to play, whether it's Some Like It Hot
11:09or whether it's Eddie Murphy.
11:11Sherman, Sherman, Sherman, Sherman, Sherman, yes.
11:14These characters were like artistic statements in comedy.
11:20You know, we want to entertain you.
11:22And we're just having fun. We're just being funny.
11:28Oh, hell yeah. I'm not in the dress in this.
11:34Steve, how do you like my new duds?
11:39You know, for now, I didn't know the burgundy was my color.
11:43Incredible. It was an all-star game.
11:45Christoph Walsh, me and Christoph worked for 12 weeks first
11:49before anyone else came on the set.
11:51So we was shooting out there, and Christoph was amazing.
11:53And then all of a sudden, here comes Leonardo DiCaprio
11:57and Samuel L. Jackson onto the set,
11:59walking in slow motion with their vapes.
12:01I said, ooh, these motherfuckers is callin'.
12:03Here was the thing, though.
12:04The subject matter, the N-word specifically,
12:07Leo had a hard time saying the N-word.
12:10We're doing a read, and Leo says,
12:13and then he goes, hey, man, hey, guys, cut.
12:16I just can't do this. This is not me.
12:20Samuel L. Jackson, say that shit, motherfucker.
12:24It's just another Tuesday. Fuck him.
12:29And I told Leo, I said, Leo, you know, in slavery days,
12:32we would never talk to each other.
12:33So I'm not your friend. I'm not Jamie Foxx.
12:36I'm Django. And as I told him, I said,
12:38you won't be able to play that character
12:39unless you really understand what slavery was about.
12:42It was tough. It was horrific.
12:44Ain't no Kiki in with the slaves.
12:45So the next day, I see Leo.
12:47I said, Leo, what's up?
12:49L! L, what's up?
12:52He don't speak to me. He ready.
12:54So everybody started, you know, digging in.
12:59Mmm. Show him, Sam.
13:03Show him, Sam. Give him that range.
13:05I count six shots.
13:06And Samuel Jackson was better than all of us.
13:08He should have got an Oscar.
13:09The way he would turn it on and turn it off.
13:11Say action.
13:13Master of candy, who's this on this night?
13:17Master of candy, I said, who is this on this night?
13:22Say cut.
13:23Cut.
13:24What'd you think?
13:25And I'm like, this motherfucker's an alien.
13:27I was waiting for him to do like this.
13:29But that's what the level was in this incredible movie.
13:34You open it, son of a...
13:40Quentin Tarantino, he the best.
13:42People don't know, like, you're in the movie when the house blew up.
13:45It didn't go like that.
13:46And after he blew the house up, which is supposed to be the end of the movie,
13:48he goes, ah, it's all wrong. It's all wrong.
13:50Everybody go home. I did it in the wrong order.
13:52I'm going to rewrite the whole ending of the movie.
13:54We faked the explosion because he had already blew the house up
13:58and it took months to blow it up.
14:00But the genius of Quentin Tarantino, he just rewrote it
14:03and made it what you saw.
14:13Ah!
14:16CD!
14:17It's been a long time since I've done this.
14:19Well, maybe he's just distracted because your old boyfriend is trying to kill him.
14:22He went on one date.
14:23Cameron Diaz.
14:24He talked about Manchester United the entire time.
14:26So you admit it. It was a date.
14:28Go left, left, left.
14:33Ha ha.
14:34Cameron Diaz.
14:36Back in action.
14:39Cameron Diaz is a national treasure.
14:42She's done so many incredible movies.
14:44And trying to get her to come back, I said,
14:46Cameron, listen, we got this movie.
14:48We promise that your feet won't touch the ground.
14:50You'll just have a good time.
14:51And if you just wave at your fans,
14:53there's a lot of fans that are needing you.
14:55Think about it.
14:56She thought about it for a while and she came back.
14:58And then we were like, oh man, I hope we don't shit the bed.
15:00I hope the movie is actually good.
15:02But what was great about her, when she got on the set,
15:04she would see things.
15:05Okay, why don't we put this here and put that there
15:07and do this and that.
15:08And so she was hands-on, making sure that what you saw was amazing.
15:11And then the kids.
15:12Now, luckily, I have a 16-year-old.
15:15So I said, Cameron, I can tell you how it goes.
15:17When they turn 16, they go somewhere else.
15:21And you get them hella short answers.
15:24You'd be excited.
15:25Aren't you just happy? Good morning.
15:27Yeah, hey.
15:29I'm your father. I'm Jamie Foxx.
15:31I get it.
15:32So we were able to put that into the film
15:35and beyond the incredible action and the fighting,
15:38I think the quiet moments with Cameron
15:40trying to connect with her daughter is like gold.
15:44I said, if we're able to do that through this movie, it's great.
15:48It's popcorn friendly.
15:49It's Netflix.
15:50You're sitting at the house and you want the whole family to check it out.
15:53And then the kids that were in it were amazing.
15:56So it was a fun ride.
15:59And at this point in our careers, that's what you want.