Jamie Foxx Brought A Key Cultural Perspective To A Scene In Ali
In Michael Mann's 2001 biopic "Ali," Jamie Foxx played Drew Bundini Brown, Muhammad Ali's assistant trainer. Brown was, as the film depicted him, a little crass, openly lascivious (he confesses his particular fetishes in public), and not always up to living the way Ali would have liked him to. In one notable scene, Ali (Will Smith) bursts into Brown's dingy apartment and finds him hungover. Ali screams at the man to respect himself.
Mann is a filmmaker fond of shaky, handheld camera moves, was an early proponent of digital photography, and seeks a certain kind of steely, assertive realism in his work. This was an exhilarating approach for a high-profile Hollywood biography like "Ali," a film that was nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards.
It's worth noting that Mann and his three credited "Ali" co-screenwriters, Eric Roth ("Forrest Gump") and writing duo Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson ("Nixon"), are all white men. They may have been able to capture the historical details correctly, and they may have accurately depicted Muhammad Ali's unique character, largely thanks to the legendary boxer's many outspoken press conferences and interviews, but what they lacked was the perspective of the Black community. It was here that Jamie Foxx stepped in.
In a 2018 interview with Yahoo! Life, Foxx recalled an afternoon he spent with Mann during the production of "Ali," and how a chance encounter with one of Foxx's fans gave the actor a chance to tell his director what needed to happen in a key "Ali" scene.
'Black people don't do it like that'
The scene in question was when Brown was to meet Muhammad Ali for the first time. Because Ali was already a celebrity when Brown met him, Mann felt Brown needed to be quiet and nervous in the champ's presence. Jamie Foxx immediately pointed out to Mann that this would not be an accurate response between two Black men. He said:
"I had never worked with Michael Mann, so I wasn't aware of the presence, and I had to learn some things. But he learned some things as well. Like, when it came to me walking in as Bundini talking to Ali the first time, he said you should be scared of him. I asked why. He said, 'Because he's the champ.' And I said, 'So?' He said, 'Why are you saying, "So?"' I said it was because Black people don't do it like that."
Foxx patiently explained to Mann that Brown would not have been intimidated by Ali. Indeed, he would have approached with friendliness and confidence, showing his gregariousness and willingness to pal around with a celebrity. Foxx initially followed Mann's initial direction, but felt his instincts as an actor were still the correct way to play the scene. Foxx said:
"[I said to Mann] 'If I see someone who's a star, and I say hello to them, I feel like I'm a part of them.' So we shot it the nervous way, and I didn't think it was the right thing, but I had to respect the director."
Foxx was able to prove his point to Mann a few days later when a random fan approached the actor while he was filming an outdoor scene in Miami. The fan possessed the same confidence Foxx said Brown ought to have.
'Holler at me Foxx, what we doing tonight?'
Foxx couldn't have communicated his intentions better than if he staged the following incident himself. Foxx doesn't say the name of the fans who approached him, but one person provided a real-world example of exactly what Foxx had tried to communicate to Mann:
"[A] few days later, I was standing on the street, and we're shooting something in Miami, and this little white couple comes up and quietly says, 'Mr. Foxx, is it okay if I get a picture?' and I said, 'Sure,' and we took the picture. As soon we get through with the picture, I hear a brother across the street — 'FOXX! What about it, baby? What's up?' He comes across the street, got a little bag of something he's eating, 'What's good, baby? Holler at me Foxx, what we doing tonight?'"
This person was not a friend of Foxx's. He was merely a confident human being. Foxx pointed out that this fan was more emblematic of the way Black men communicate. Indeed, Foxx pointed out that the confidence of a fan is a subtle test of the celebrity's character. Foxx said:
"Mann says, 'Do you know him?' I say, 'Never met him in my life. That's just the way we are. If I'd have shined on him, and told him I couldn't holler at him, he would have told everybody Jamie Foxx is an a**hole.'"
After this encounter, Mann and Foxx went back to the scene in question and reshot it in the manner Foxx preferred. Not only did the actor like the finished product better, but he felt it informed Bundini's optimistic character for the rest of the movie.
Michael Mann, Foxx admitted, is a brilliant director. But even the most seasoned pros can learn from their cast.