Skid Role

The songs are often Lothario anthems, like "Blame It (On the Alcohol)," often as deep as a shot glass. In a flash of candor, Foxx confides he isn't a huge fan of the music he puts out, but that Timbaland and other producers told him that the music he hears in his head -- piano melodies his old hero Ritchie would enjoy -- are too outdated for today's youth.

"It's tough," Foxx said. "But I learned that you have to listen. If you don't listen as you get older in your career, you'll fall. You have to trust your instincts as far as the shape of things."

Foxx is, no surprise, a pretty funny guy. Asked about recent jobs he's turned down, he launched into a mini-routine about all "the famous old black men" roles he's been offered after the Oscar win. "Jamie Foxx is Martin Luther King Jr. Jamie Foxx is Malcolm X. Jamie Foxx is Black History Month. . . ." Then, acting like he was practicing for a role as the newest White House occupant, he launched into a pitch-perfect version of Barack Obama that had nearby bar patrons giggling in delight.

Shifting down into a serious gear, he said the Academy Award has given him a chance to pursue meaningful roles, and that, after some action-film missteps ("Miami Vice" and "Stealth"), he will be more selective. "I've asked my agent to find me beautiful-character movies," he said. "That's where we flourish."

After working with directors such as Michael Mann and Oliver Stone, Foxx said, he was eager to work with Wright because "he knows that it's about the characters and getting them right, not just the shot." Still, the actor groaned a bit when Wright insisted that this movie had to have a social message behind it and that to deliver the message, his stars would need to educate themselves firsthand with the broader homeless situation in Los Angeles.

"He wanted the movie to do good things," Foxx said. "So I went down with this real flippant attitude thinking I knew something about these people and who they are and how they got there. I knew downtown, I had lived not far from there. I knew it was drug dealers and people trying to put over on you and criminals. I thought that was it. And I was just wrong."

Not long after, Foxx became immersed in the ramping victory of Obama and found himself in Washington feeling the wind of history blowing across his face. After all of that, and following his eye-opening experiences with "The Soloist," he made a dramatic change. The bachelor moved his mother, his stepfather and his two sisters west to live with him in his home; he wanted a family, even if it was one that didn't exist around him during his childhood.