Jamie Foxx Gets Personal Exclusive

28 April 2006

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Jamie Foxx Comic Singer, Actor, but what about the man himself, Jamie reveals the music that helped shape his life so far and talks about his famous 'Karaoke, nights, his friendship with Colin Farrell and his relationship with his teenage daughter. as well as being a 'badass' dad.This week Oscar winner Jamie Foxx drops by bringing his Hollywood glamour with him. Jamie Foxx talks candidly about the pressures of being a young dad; the film stars he admires; those notorious parties of his and the music that’s close to his heart. The unique Jamie seems able to turn his hand to almost anything. A self confessed comic, actor and singer admits he thrives on trying new things and keeping busy. And busy he has been, he’s only the fourth person in history to have secured both a number one album and won an Academy Award.Not only has Jamie stormed to the top of the Hollywood hot list he’s also secured himself a few celebrity friends along the way. So much so that his legendary Karaoke parties have the likes of Justin Timberlake and Whitney Houston all clambering for an invite. But Jamie’s road to success wasn’t an easy one. Raised by his Grandmother, he endured some tough lessons in his childhood, many of which he says gave him the determination to succeed and make his grandmother proud.For his first selection Jamie takes us back to a time when purple was the only colour to wear as he chooses Prince and ‘Darling Nikki’ for his past track - "Prince came out around 1976 which was a very bible bashing time. For him to come out with the songs he did was just so revolutionary. Purple Rain was one of those revolutions that just blew us all away. He was the cutting edge of music. As a young kid I just found his music so descriptive, it went beyond just being a song. This song brings back a lot of memories for me of that time and that’s why I chose him for my past track."

His present track ‘Miss New Booty’ by Bubba Sparks is a firm favourite at his parties - "This song is one of those southern tracks that just gets people moving. When you’re in a club or at one of my parties and this track comes on everybody runs onto the dance floor. I love it."It’s the track ‘All This Love’ from Jamie’s current album Unpredictable that he picks for his future track - "This is a song I did with LL Cool J, he really nailed this. The song is all about loving a woman no matter what. Let me tell you, no one does romance like LL. He’s the best. The collaboration came about because he’s a friend of mine, the time was right and we just decided it time to hook up and make a song together".

Jamie goes for the soul classic ‘What’s Going On’ by Marvin Gaye for his dedication track - "I’d like to dedicate this song to the world. When I was younger it seemed like there were a lot of good people and only a few bad people. But as I’ve got older I’ve began to think that that are more bad people and just a few good people around. My mum used to listen to this song all the time when I was younger. She would put this on and her and my dad would start to pop their fingers. It seemed like this song would just chill them out. Those moments stick out in my mind cause they were so few."

Jamie’s all time favourite track is Heatwave’s romantic ‘Always And Forever’ - "I love this track. When you listen to the words it’s about ultimate love, ultimate dedication. I don’t think it’s necessarily about marriage but the words just kind of explain that commitment, commitment on a different level. Those words, always and forever, are words that everyone wants to say to someone at one point in their life."

Prince impersonator

"I was a big fan of Prince when I was younger, I used to wear a lot of purple back then - well everyone did! I remember this one time I went to the cinema to see Purple Rain for about the twentieth time and I was sitting there singing along thinking I was just so cool. Anyways, this black girl in the row in front of me suddenly pipes up and says ‘Would you please let Prince just sing the song, please? Oh my god, stop ruining the song!’ The funny thing was she didn’t even turn round to ball on me, she just kept facing front with her hand pointing back at me saying ‘Whoever you are, can you please shut up and just let Prince sing the damn song!’ You know you’re in trouble when a mamma doesn’t even turn round to tell you off."

Jamie Legendary parties

"At one of my parties you can expect to see all the stars and celebrities just letting their hair down. Once people are in that room they just want to be around creative and artistic people, it doesn’t matter how much you spent putting the party on. I remember one of my parties where Puff Daddy came in and I said welcome to my party. All I had out were these little Styrofoam cups with coca-cola in them but at that party was Jay Z, Mia, Missey Elliot, loads of people. There was also these two guys standing in the corner, I went up and asked their names and they said ‘Oh we’re the Neptune’s’ and then one of them said ‘My name’s Pharrell’. I’m talking a few years back but I remember Pharrell asking ‘Are there ladies like this at all your parties?’. We had some classy ladies there, no hoochy mammas, real amazing, beautiful actresses."

Karaoke nights with the stars

"I used to throw Karaoke nights every Tuesday round mine. I remember one time it was a wicked party - we had playboy bunnies there, Justin Timberlake got up and sang, the Backstreet Boys sang some N’Sync, Bobbie Brown got up and did a song. The highlight though was when I came back in to the main room I heard someone on the mic saying ‘I don’t do this for everyone you know’ and it’s Whitney, she’s taken the mic and just starts singing ‘I Will Always Love You’. Everyone just went crazy, all the stars were holding their phones out recording it, cause it was so amazing."

Tom Cruises baby joy

"I sent my congratulations to Tom and Katie after they had the baby, we sent him some gifts. I loved working with Tom on Collateral he’s such a great down-to-earth guy. Sometime he gets a hard time and feels under the gun, but I’ve told him before you don’t owe anyone anything. If anything we owe you, for all the great movies you’ve done. So now I’m hoping he’s just relaxing, not worrying what anyone thinks of him and just enjoying fatherhood with Katie."

Jacket sleeves up - it’s Miami Vice time!

"The film Miami Vice is going to knock people’s wigs off. All those women out there who make a little noise when they hear the name Colin Farrell, they are going to get a whole lot of that. A whole lot of grown, man, sexiness with the biggest guns, the fastest cars - it’s going to be a great movie."

Colin Farrell; the ladies choice

"It’s incredible working with Colin. What’s great about him and what people don’t get to see is his family side. His sisters, mum and dad would all come on set and visit and when they do he turns into such a little boy. He becomes all caring and small and that’s what makes the women around him melt - ‘Oh he’s such a family man, oh he’s so sweet’ they love all that. We’d be driving around and women would just be shouting his name yelling out anything to get his attention! But he’s a young cat too, he’s embracing his career and I think this film will be the one that really shoots him out the cannon."

Colin & Jamie’s parties

"Myself and Colin did throw a big party together, everyone was there, Jessica Simpson, Eddie Murphy - it blew my mind! There were a lot of women at that party too and they just lost their mind over Colin. He was looking so cool with his shirt open and his hair - that seems to do that thing where it just kind of falls over his face at exactly the right place, and stays there! Women just love him."

Love & Marriage

"I think that marriage is about something that used to be, I don’t think it’s that relevant now. I think it can be great, but there are so many things that get wrapped up into it now and the pressure is so great. I think you just have to be careful with your heart, like I tell my sister. If you take that step just know that it’s very, very hard. You look at couples like Brad & Jen and the sad thing is it was all good until it got put under a camera for all to see, then the cracks start to appear. But I’m not saying I wouldn’t do it, lets just say I’m still looking through applications!"

Honesty from his teenage daughter

"My daughter notices the fames and success but she doesn’t want any of that, it doesn’t impress her, she just wants me, she just wants her dad. I learnt that anything you usually think is fly, fun, or sexy she pulls you up on and says ‘Why are you doing that?’ I can’t pull nothing on her. I remember being at the Grammy’s with Kanye West and I said to her ‘Did you see me?’ and she was like ‘Daddy your butt looked big in that suit’. She does that because she doesn’t care about all that, she just wants her dad."

Growing pains

"My daughter is only 12years old but she’s 5’6ft, with size 8 shoes, she’s beginning to look like a woman and I’m loosing my mind! I remember when we went to Miami and she said ‘Daddy I’m going to the beach’. She went to put her bathers on, now I thought she was putting on the one-piece turtleneck I bought her, but she comes out in this tiny two-piece. I just thought ok, how am I going to deal with this, all her friends have 2 pieces on but they don’t look like her yet. So they all go down the beach so I get out my surveillance equipment to keep an eye on them. Eventually I had to get down there and I’m serious when I say there was a crowd gathering around her! I grabbed her put in a dingy and said ‘You stay down there and don’t come out until your older!"

Badass Dad

"I have a reputation for being the dad that her "boy friends" don’t mess with. I remember taking her to her first dance. She was horrified that I would be walking her in, she said to me "You’re so embarrassing" and I just said "Well alright then, there is going to be embarrassment but I’m doing this!" I even got my video out and started filming her going into the dance. Anyway as I was filming her I started to pan around the room and zoom in on all the little boys around the edges - making sure I eyeballed each one. I just wanted them to know what I was saying to them without me having to say it you know, I was watching. I was just protecting her."

Meeting the Godfather

"I remember the first time I met Al Pacino, it was in a bar called Shutters in Santa Monica. This person came over and said Al Pacino’s in the back and he’d like to see you. I walked into this room and I swear the lighting was down low and I looked at him and it was like seeing "Scar Father" - you know, godfather and Scarface all in one. I was seriously scared for a moment. Then I started to hear the Godfather theme song in my head! Anyway I’m building it all up, getting more and more scared and then Al turns round and says, "Hey do you like Cranberry juice? They make the best cranberry juice here."

"We got on very well, we played a lot of chess and I lost every time - on purpose! He would tell great stories when we played chess. He talked about his roles about filming Godfather, he said to me "Yeah that was an evil character right there". He was great, very inspiring, very talented and a great story teller, he just reels you in."

The No.1 hit music show featuring Jamie Foxx will air in a new time of Friday 28th April, ITV1 at 11.30pm, repeated on ITV2.