Jamie Foxx is undeniably one of the remarkably talented Hollywood stars. He appeared in several movies and TV shows across genres but the actor is mostly known for his appealing action and comic roles.
Foxx, who won an Oscar for Taylor Hackford’s 2004 musical drama Ray had his name changed under difficult situation to tackle the competition around him during the days of his struggle. Was it a smart move?
The Real Reason Why Jamie Foxx Changed His Name
Jamie Foxx’s birth name, Eric Marlon Bishop, turned out to be a trouble for the early days of his career as a stand-up comedian. He was not getting a lot of gigs as there was heavy competition, but one thing he noticed was that there were not many female comedians at the time, and they found it easy to get gigs. Appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the 55-year-old said that he struggle to get on the list of comedians for a gig.
“Listen, man, doing stand-up, when I got to L.A., it was open mic night. so I put my name down, Erik Bishop, I go up, have a great set, standing ovation, right? I went back for the next few weeks, they wouldn’t let me back up because the comedians ran the list. so every time they saw my name, no, no,” Foxx told Stephen Colbert.
However, interestingly, female comedians were getting the stage. “They don’t want the competition,” Foxx said. Foxx realized the need of changing his name to have a more unisex appeal. “So, I was like, damn, what’s up? I went to Santa Monica improv, evening at the improv back in that day,” he added.
“I notice there would be 100 dude who showed up, but only a few girls. So, I wrote on the list– you have to write on the list eye wrote unisex names, Stacy Brown, Traci Green, Jamie Foxx, right.”
The name change seemed to work, as the actor started getting more gigs, and eventually, the comedian broke into Hollywood with his 1992 comedy film, Toys.
A Smart Move on Jamie Foxx’s Part
Changing names is not a new trend. Several actors in the industry including Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Portman, Vin Diesel, and Foxx’s Collateral co-star Tom Cruise have changed their birth names to respective stage names. For Foxx, it was a smart movie that came out of desperation for the job. But having a stage name, the actor said, “is like having a Superman complex. I go into the telephone booth as Eric Bishop and come out as Jamie Foxx.”
Foxx is also a package of entertainment, he has been funny, a talented singer, and a powerful actor who walks with the characters integrating into the roles he plays. Following his debut in the cinematic world, Foxx claimed tremendous success. He went on to star in several significant movies including Django Unchained, Jarhead, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Miami Vice. The actor also holds an Oscar that he won for his performance as Ray Charles in the $124 million movie Ray.
Foxx is now recovering from his health condition and making few public appearances after a long recovery period. Most recently, Foxx was seen in Juel Taylor’s Netflix fantasy They Cloned Tyrone, which was filmed before his health scare in April 2023.
They Cloned Tyrone is streaming on Netflix.
Source: ShowbizCheatSheet
