Actor Jamie Foxx has told how an intervention from talk-show host Oprah Winfrey saved his career after he spiralled out of control.
The American star said he was drinking and doing everything “you could possibly imagine” after his best actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Ray Charles.
But he was saved by an intervention at Quincy Jones’s house involving Hollywood veteran Sidney Poitier, who was the first African-American to win the award.
Jamie, 49, told The Howard Stern Show he was “going hard” in the 2004/05 awards season when he answered the phone.
“You’re blowing it, Jamie Foxx,” he said Oprah told him.
“She says, ‘All this gallivanting and all this kind of shit, that’s not what you want to do’.”
He said she took him to Quincy’s house to show him the significance of his behaviour.
“We go in this house and there’s all these old actors. Black actors from the 60s and the 70s. Who look like they want to say, ‘Good luck’. They want to say, ‘Don’t blow it’,” Foxx said.
“I break down. Everyone sits me down. It was actually Sydney Poitier’s birthday. They made me understand the significance of it.
“To this day, it’s the most significant time in my life where it was, like, a chance to grow up.”
It made him realise he was part of a bigger picture, added Jamie, who went on to win the Oscar for his performance in Ray.
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