Jamie Foxx was amazing in his biopic Ray and his athletic ability could never be questioned, so him tackling the role of Mike Tyson shouldn’t be much of a stretch.
He made it a point to say on Live with Kelly & Michael that he’d want this to be a serious role and not like some of his comedic skits portraying Tyson from his past.
Here’s what Foxx had to say about tackling this complex role:
See, I got a chance to hang out with Mike when Mike was at his height, and I watched Mike Tyson go from his height to where he is now, and I talked to Mike about doing his story. And I said, ‘Mike, how do you feel? ‘I’m happy. God bless Allah, my brother.’ I said, ‘Why are you happy? ‘I don’t have any money. So I’m very happy. No one’s trying to take anything from me.’ And it broke my heart when I heard him say that. And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He says, ‘When I had money, and I was doing bad stuff too, but everybody was all over me.’ He said, ‘All I wanted to do is box and fall in love.’ So I think that story would be fantastic. And I actually gained 225 pounds to do a role at one point. And I had my makeup artist dress me up as Mike Tyson, and I was in Toronto, and people were literally coming up asking for autographs. So hopefully, Mike, if you’re listening, let’s make history. – Jamie Foxx