Skid Role

"I thought about just walking away from this movie," said Foxx, who suffered from panic attacks and bouts of paranoia during filming. Instead of bolting, he visited with psychiatrists, turned for help to the film's director, Joe Wright ("Atonement," "Pride & Prejudice"), and also educated himself on the mental-health realities versus the vaporous fears he felt as he studied Ayers in his element.

"I had gone and watched Nathaniel, I had a little bit of a disguise and I spent time following him and studying him when he didn't know I was there, and as I was dissecting and downloading, I got really worried, I felt all these things," Foxx said. "I went to a psychiatrist and I actually asked, 'Can I catch schizophrenia?' Now I know you can't, but I also knew I had this thing happen to me before, and it felt like it was going to happen again. . . . "

Actors are, by their nature, drawn to drama and all that goes with it, so a skeptic might wonder if Foxx is goosing his account to promote his film or slipping a bit into the voice of a fabulist. (He also inspires a roll of the eyes when he says things such as "Well, this one time I took too many energy pills" when asked about mistakes he's made or what he views as the public's misconceptions about his personal character.) But that's not the case, according to director Wright, who spoke in somber tones about the wrenching ordeal he watched the actor endure.

"First of all, the Jamie that I got to know is completely opposite to the public perception of who Jamie Foxx is, which is based on an image in comedy and music that he has created," the British filmmaker said. "That's an alter ego created as protection, and its wall of artifice is 6 feet deep. He is much more fragile than his alter ego. In the making of this film, I felt I had a first priority to be a safety net for him. We all came to see the risk he was at -- or the risk as he felt it. We weren't going to lose him into that dark hole."

Foxx said Wright and costar Downey (who, of course, spent years sliding down the banisters of 12-step programs) did their best to help as Foxx tried to navigate choppy waters. But it soon became clear to Foxx that the problems he was having weren't a secret as filming began in early 2008. The actor acknowledged that Steven Spielberg, who had a vested interest in "The Soloist" through DreamWorks SKG, approached Foxx at a party with the careful diction of a hostage negotiator. The filmmaker and mogul told Foxx that movies about the mind can take an unexpected toll and that the actor shouldn't be afraid to seek help. All Foxx could think about was the symptoms that gave him away: "Does it show? People can tell?"