When Lucid, Jamie Foxx Regrets the Lobotomy He Underwent to Play Nathaniel Anthony Ayers in “The Soloist”

jamie_foxx_soloistHOLLYWOOD – In one of the rare instances when actor Jamie Foxx, star of “The Soloist,” temporarily regains lucidity, he concedes that the lobotomy he underwent to simulate the schizophrenia of the character he portrayed in the film, Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, “probably was a mistake.”

The procedure left Foxx delusional and causes him to experience frequent fits of unintelligible babbling. 

Many film actors have gone to great lengths to become the character they are portraying, whether it be putting on excessive weight, as Robert DeNiro did to play Al Capone in “The Untouchables,” or taking off excessive weight, as Christian Bale did to star in “The Machinist.”  But until Foxx, none has ever had the connections to and from his prefrontal cortex cut for his craft.

Actor Robert Downey, Jr., Foxx’s “Soloist” co-star, visits him daily under the Los Angeles bridge where Foxx now lives with all his possessions piled in a shopping cart. 

“I’m his friend,” Downey told a reporter.  “And as is true in all these cases where a hip guy hooks up with some nutcase, the hip guy learns humility and experiences character growth, but it’s the nutcase who walks off with the Oscar.”

Apr 28