The Quick Black Foxx

SINGAPORE — Jamie Foxx is fun to watch as the villain Electro in Columbia Pictures’ The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (showing nationwide), all right, and he’s even much more fun to talk to as Your Conversationalist and other journalists found out during the round-table interview for the movie’s junket last month. He’s an animated talker (no surprise because he’s a comedian). Besides being an awarded actor, he’s also a Grammy-winning musician.

He credits his performance in Quentin Tarantino’s critically-acclaimed Django Unchained for his being cast in Spider-Man, directed by Marc Webb, the first black actor to be playing a villain in the Marvel-comics franchise.

In his second caper as Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield (with real-life girlfriend Emma Stone playing his ladylove Gwen Stacy) is pitted against Electro who works for the powerful company Oscorp that threatens New York, the same company that once employed Spider-Man’s alter ego Peter Parker and that played a role in the disappearance of Peter’s parents.

Our group sat down with Jamie (after Andrew, Emma and Marc) at a lobby bar of the imposing Marina Bay Sands Hotel where the Spider-Man entourage was billeted.

You’re the first black actor to play a villain in a movie like this. Is it more stressful, more challenging?

“What’s the real challenge is not my being a black actor but in trying to find out what Max Dillon was before he turned into Electro, the villain. It’s important that you show what’s driving him to this anger, why he hates Spider-Man so much. You know, I just love playing the villain because the villain gets to have more fun.”

Is it true that your daughter Annalise Bishop, four years old, was incredulous when she learned that you were going to be in a Spider-Man movie? What was your first reaction when you were offered the role?

“Oh yes, she couldn’t believe it. She’s a fan of Spider-Man. When I told her about it, she asked me, ‘Who are you gonna play?’ I said, ‘Yes, Electro.’ She gasped, ‘Oh no, Dad, you’re gonna get beaten up. You know that, right?’ Anyway, I guess that it’s because of the success of Django that I got cast in Spider-Man. I have Quentin Tarantino to thank for that.”

You mentioned Django in which one of the most memorable scenes shows you naked upside down. How much more daring can you be for the sake of realism?

“The nude scene in that movie was necessary for Django. But I don’t think that nudity always means that, you know, it is art. In the story, that’s the real thing they would do to slaves in those times…snip their nuts, you know, and let them bleed out. Tarantino is able to give you something real and rapid, sometimes with a flair of comedy, and that’s why he’s successful. I told him, ‘You’re the best director in the world; you’re able to say the word nigger 10 times’ without being offensive. Because of that (nude) scene, when I walk in the mall, women would look at me in a certain way, you know, hahahaha!”

Music plays a very important part of your life and career. You’re very lucky to be able to combine music and acting.

“Music to me is the driving force of life, a great inspiration. You talk to Quentin Tarantino and he’ll say, ‘I heard a piece of music and it made me write nine pages worth of dialogue.’ Music has a way of inspiring you to dig into your soul and do your best.”

I understand that on the set of Django, you wrote a song for Tarantino and you did the same for Spider-Man.

“Yeah. Every time I do a movie, I write a theme song. I have a studio in my house and we did a song called The Tarantino Mix and another one called Chasing Spiders for Spider-Man.” (Proceeds to sing part of it) “It’s some kind of a villain’s anthem.” (Then he turns on his celfone and let’s listen to The Tarantino Mix) “When I was on the set and someone would text me and say, ‘Let me know where you’re at,’ I would reply, ‘I’m now Electro and I’m on the set. I can’t talk right now; I’m chasing spiders.’ That’s how I got to write the song.” (Let’s us listen to Chasing Spiders, also recorded on his celfone) “It says, ‘I may be black but I’m no widow, not just been shadows in the dark…he may be yours but he ain’t my hero…I’ve been patiently waiting but I’m angry now…’ Something like that.”

How did your co-stars (Andrew and Emma among them) react when you sang that song to them?

“I didn’t really play it for them. What I did was like…well, it’s more of a personal thing. You know, words that I was saying that would make me ‘live’ my character.”

How different is playing Electro from that of your other roles?

“It isn’t quite like taking on any other role. It’s a great feeling to come to work on a Spider-Man movie. I remember the moment I first stepped on the set and I saw Andrew in the suit. For me, it was like a moment in history. We’re doing something that people really love. It’s a part of our fabric, part of our culture. That was very meaningful to me and it was a responsibility I took seriously. In crafting Electro, I wanted to be a formidable opponent. I made sure that Electro was so bad, so evil, that he allows Spider-Man to be very good.”

The character Max Dillon is a Spider-Man fan and he became Electro the bad guy because he’s a victim of bullying. Have you ever been bullied in real life?

“Uhm…I don’t like the Internet because that’s where people can bully other people. Every time I see my two kids busy on their computer, I would tell them, ‘Turn it off, turn it off!’ But you know, it’s a different world now. Young people are so attuned to the social media. Have I ever been bullied back then? Yes, I was, and even now that I’m 46 years old. A few days ago, somebody tried to bully me on the phone, and I told the caller, ‘I’m gonna call the FBI, I’m gonna call the authorities,’ and he stopped calling me. You have to address bullies with intelligence; you have to outwit them.”

We watched choice portions of the movie yesterday. It’s obvious that you had fun playing a villain.

“Max is a very smart guy who should be celebrated for building big things for Oscorp. He should be getting a company car and an expense account but instead he gets nothing. He resents it, but he doesn’t know how to react; he’s ready to lash out but he doesn’t know how. Then, he finds a way to lash out…against the very person who was once his idol, Spider-Man. As Max, he feels that Spider-Man is his friend and he’s obsessed with him. But when he gets his powers and goes to Times Square, Spider-Man tries to stop him from hurting himself and innocent New Yorkers. Max misinterprets what Spider-Man is doing and he feels betrayed by his hero, thinking that Spider-Man is getting all the glory at his expense. As Electro, Max becomes Spider-Man’s arch enemy.”

What is it about Electro that you identify with?

“I think the only thing I can identify with Electro is his electricity. I have a very electric personality.” (Laughs and laughs)

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