Jamie Foxx talks Django Unchained, Roots, and Skank RobbersBy Wilson Morales
December 28, 2012
Currently in theaters is Quentin Tarantino’s polarizing western slavery film, ‘Django Unchained,’ starring Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx, Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, and Kerry Washington.
With the help of his mentor (Waltz), a slave-turned-bounty hunter (Foxx) sets out to rescue his wife (Washington) from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner (DiCaprio).
After winning the Oscar back in 2004, Foxx has done numerous films (Dreamgirls, Miami Vice, The Soloist, Due Date, Law Abiding Citizen), but none of those role has captured the attention of many than this role of a lifetime.
Much has been discussed about this “taboo” subject being glamorized on the big screen and the ubiquitous use of the N-word.
Blackfilm.com recently spoke with Foxx about taking on this film and what he expects to come out of it.
What was the most challenging aspect for you before and after you shot the film?
Jamie Foxx: The challenging thing is doing a movie about slavery and going to those parts; watching Kerry Washington be whipped, having chains on, and having to lose myself. I pride myself on being as strong as I can. I’m not taking anything from nobody. I am Django without the violent part. I don’t think I’m less than anybody. I don’t care what it is. So to be able to strip all that back and to act like I can’t read, that’s tough. That’s tough on your mind. That was the challenging part as well as the physical stuff like riding the horses, the gunplay, and everything else. It was tough but also fun. I think one of the reasons Quentin Tarantino decided to go with me, and he could have gone with anyone and it would have been fantastic, but the articulation of the movie afterwards; to be able to take the tough questions and be honest in my answers. It was also to know the significance even past this year. It’s significant in the next five to ten years of what this film will be. My whole life is about how do African Americans feel about me? Have I let them down? That’s the code I live by. I pride myself on being smart. I don’t always make the right decision but I think in this one, and anyone will tell you this, but to be Django and what it sets up to be, I know they don’t usually do part 2s, but the scenario that was pitched to me by Quentin and other people has Kerry Washington working underground and getting slave passed and writing books. Django’s up north and hiding out because there’s wanted posters; that’s western stuff still wrapped in that background. I don’t think anybody, looking at it now, wouldn’t have said yes to do this film.
What’s the difference between Django and Roots?
JF: For a new generation, they don’t know anything about slavery. This film is tough enough that we understand the significance of what slavery was and at the same time, I don’t know how to make it any clearer than Quentin Tarantino bringing in some ingenious stuff. To land this movie the way it lands, and have you laughing in places where you didn’t think you were going to laugh, especially when reading the script, is different. It’s the not the same impact that I had with Roots. When I watched Roots, it was a completely different aspect. At that time, it was just as much a hot button issue. It was craziness. Even in our school. This film gives it a different take on the entertainment side. It really allows people to go to certain emotions and come back, hold their breath for a minute and then start breathing again. Originally, some people would say that it was going to be a revenge film and that white people would get killed and it’s almost joke-y, like when you see Miss Laura get shot and she flies out of the room. It almost makes it comical in a sense. I wouldn’t compare it to Roots because I think Roots, to me, was my experience; but with this film, people will get a completely different one and I’m happy to see what they think.
Should the film become a financial success and knowing how Hollywood likes to make similar films to capitalize on this, I don’t think folks want more films where the N-word is used repeatedly.
JF: I think what you do is this. For one, Quentin Tarantino is a different beat, a different animal. I don’t think anyone will try to do it that way. I don’t think that it would be as accepted. Now, do we need to do more movies about slavery? Yes. After doing this movie, I think so. Hopefully, there will be other directors; whether they are white or black, but I preferably would like to see black directors do them. I would like to see Antoine Fuqua or F. Gary Gray or someone else tackle some of these things.
There are a lot of aspiring actors who don’t like the trajectory for Black films coming from Hollywood studios when you think of The Help, Django, 12 Years as a Slave, or The Butler. When it comes to getting a role in them, it’s either maids, butlers, or slaves.
JF: You go back to this. The reason they probably feel that way is because you have been taught not to want to know any of that. We have been taught not to want to know any of our history. If you know about your history, then it may make you think differently. If it makes you feel uncomfortable talking about slavery, then ask yourself why? When you talk to a Jewish person and they talk about the Holocaust, they don’t feel uncomfortable. Why is that? So, why are we the opposite? That’s the question. I was like that as well, but when you see a Quentin Tarantino script, you want to be in it. When I read the script, I said, “This shit is brilliant.” I also knew that the chances I would be taking with this film, everyone would be talking about it and their answers would be fulfilled. The question still remains. How come people don’t know when we were freed? Why don’t you know about the slave trade? Even if it was not to do a movie about it, but even more specials about it; really analyzing the mindset back then, to give us that history. I don’t know how that hurts us. I understand when a black person says that the only roles here and there are these roles (slaves, maids, etc.), but we’re talking Hollywood. In Hollywood, that’s a whole different thing. Here’s my thing. Every time, me, as a black man, every time I reach out to another black man, they don’t want to work with me. Why is that? Why can’t I get other black folks to work with each other? That’s the thing that tears me down, and the reason is because of slavery.
Was this more challenging to do than ‘Ray’?
JF: Yeah. ‘Ray’ was a challenge, but we were having fun and it was music. This film was the constant thought, and I hope this sounds right for the majority, and people are going to take it no matter what because that’s the just the way it is, especially dealing with that subject matter, but that was the challenge. It was the things that you couldn’t put into words. It was that tingling feeling of me in the screening and watching the black people in my roll. Watching their reaction is the most challenging thing because you don’t want to blow it.
Is ‘Skank Robbers’ ever going to happen?
JF: I would love to do it with Martin (Lawrence), but I don’t think he wants to do it.
