"I just looked at my mother and she's getting of age and I just felt like . . . if we are around each other enough . . . maybe something will happen," Foxx said. "I came to the realization that family has to be the most important thing, even if it takes work, like group therapy and individual therapy, which we are doing."
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But like in "The Soloist," engagement doesn't guarantee a tidy ending. Foxx said he is struggling to find a way past his resentments toward his mother. He also has been unable to connect with his father; the problem there is a cultural one, with his father's conversion to Islam and disdain for his son's spiritual life.
Making these private issues public is yet another surprise by the pop-culture chameleon, the guy who poses and postures in music videos but also aspires to walk across the Oscar stage again by "playing roles that show the deeper side of all of us." He said he doesn't expect his portrayal of Ayers to resonate with audiences in the same way that "Ray" did because of the movie's challenging subject matter, but he also knows that this role and his experiences preparing for it will remain with him.
"There was this one kid I met who was blind and he loved music and the next thing I know I'm dancing with this kid," Foxx said. "I mean for me to do that . . . well, sometimes I feel like I'm on such a conveyor-belt life. Actor, musician, radio show -- and then something will happen. I end up dancing with these homeless people and feeling like I understand something new. What does it all mean? For me, it meant a lot. And I don't care if that sounds crazy."
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geoff.boucher@latimes.com
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
He makes sly moves
A talented actor and musician, Foxx has found multimedia success paralleled by few in Hollywood.
Movies
"The Soloist" 2009
"The Kingdom" 2007
"Dreamgirls" 2006
"Miami Vice" 2006
"Jarhead" 2005
"Stealth" 2005
"Ray" 2004
"Collateral" 2004
"Breakin' All the Rules" 2004
"Ali" 2001
"Any Given Sunday" 1999
"Booty Call" 1997
"The Great White Hype" 1996
"The Truth About Cats & Dogs" 1996
"Toys" 1992
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Television
"The Jamie Foxx Show" 1996-2001
"Roc" 1992-93
"In Living Color" 1991-94
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Music
"Intuition" album, 2008
Foxxhole Channel on Sirius radio, 2007
"Unpredictable," album, 2005
"Peep This," album, 1994
