Jamie Foxx had the golden opportunity to star in the 2004 film Collateral alongside veteran and iconic actor Tom Cruise. Taking up the role, Foxx described in great detail how he wasn’t the main character of the story.
Talking about a life-threatening incident, Jamie Foxx remembered that the cast and crew of the film were more concerned for Tom Cruise than Foxx when they told the actor to move out of the way so that they could reach Tom Cruise to help him!
When Jamie Foxx Was Told To Get Out of The Way
Jamie Foxx found worldwide fame when he portrayed the character of Django in Quentin Tarantino’s 2012 film Django Unchained. Before that, the actor was indeed prevalent in Hollywood but was treated like a side character rather than an actual star.
Talking about one such scenario, the actor talked about the shooting of his 2004 film with Tom Cruise titled Collateral. Portraying the role of a taxi driver, Jamie Foxx quickly realizes that he isn’t the main star of the movie when Tom Cruise hires his cab whose character is actually an assassin. Sitting alongside Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, Foxx gave his account of what it was like working on that film on The Graham Norton Show.
“We [Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx] were in the car, driving. We’re supposed to do this stunt where I crash into another car. Right? But it was supposed to be a stunt but what happened is the car is out of control and I actually do crash into the car”.
The Day Shift actor further continued,
“And when they get there, they’re like ‘Jamie, get out of the way. TOM! Are you okay?’. And that’s when you know your place.”
Foxx revealed in another interview that he received directions from director Michael Mann to dial his acting down!
Jamie Foxx Failed To Impress Tom Cruise In Collateral
Since the difference in stardom was pretty evident during the making of the 2004 movie, Jamie Foxx tried to bring some of his natural acting into the movie. In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, the actor recalled that since he was a cab driver, he was doing his thing when Cruise sat in the backseat. Trying to do some improv, Jamie Foxx was quickly told off by director Michael Mann to stick to the script!
“So I’m in the cab, ACTING. And Michael [Mann] says, ‘What are you doing?’ And I said, ‘I gotta do my thing. You know who’s in the backseat [Tom Cruise], and I gotta do my thing!’ He says, ‘How about you not do your thing?'”
Jamie Foxx was nominated for the Oscar for the movie and Collateral received a rating of 7.5/10 on IMDB and 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
