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Actor, singer, and comedian Jamie Foxx has been renowned in Hollywood for years. The Texas-born actor began his career on stage as a stand-up comedian. His big break was in the earlier ’90s when he snagged a role on the hit sketch comedy show, In Living Color before getting his own sitcom, The Jamie Foxx Show which ran from 1996-2001.

Still, being able to transition from the comedy world into drama was no easy feat for Foxx. We know now how talented he is from his sensational portrayals of Drew Bundini Brown and Ray Charles in 2001’s Ali and 2004’s Ray respectively. However, Foxx’s road to the A-list was full of twists and turns. 

In fact, the Academy Award winner recalls a humiliating moment with an A-list Hollywood director that nearly ended his career. 

This is how Jamie Foxx got his stage name

Foxx’s given name is Eric Marlon Bishop. The comedian was raised by his grandparents in Tarrell, Texas which was still racially segregated into the 1970s. In school, Foxx was a talented quarterback and had ambitions of playing for the Dallas Cowboys. However, his musical talent and gift for gab took him in another direction. 

In 1989 when Foxx was just 22, he accepted his girlfriend’s dare to tell jokes at a comedy club’s open mic night. He was a massive hit. From there, Foxx noticed that female comedians were typically called on first so he chose the name Jamie because it was a unisex name. His surname, Foxx was his tribute to the late and iconic comedian, Redd Foxx. 

Jamie Foxx’s net worth

With over 30 years in the industry with various musical albums, producing credits, television shows, films, and awards — Foxx has been able to garner a jaw-dropping net worth. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Foxx is worth an astounding $100 million. 

His latest film, Just Mercy is based on the true story of a wrongfully convicted man, Walter McMillian who was accused of raping and murdering a white woman after he was caught having an affair with another white woman the year prior. Foxx stars as McMillian with Michael B. Jordan and Brie Larson also starring in the film. 

Due to Foxx’s spectacular performance — the film is already garnering Oscar buzz. Still — despite all of Foxx’s success, there was one Hollywood director who doubted his talented. 

Oliver Stone kicked Jamie Foxx out of an audition

In the late ’90s with several films under his belt — Foxx auditioned for Oliver Stone’s football drama, Any Given Sunday. Though he eventually snagged a role, it was not a pleasant experience. “I remember Oliver Stone, when I first auditioned [for Any Given Sunday], he was like, ‘You’re horrible,’” Foxx said during The Hollywood Reporter’s Actor’s Roundtable. “And I was like, ‘What?’ He was like, ‘Just get the f**k out of here.’ As I’m walking out he said, ‘Jamie Foxx, slave to television,’ But I learned from that toughness.”

Though he had to go through terrible treatment to land the role, Foxx says he wouldn’t change anything. “If I gave myself any advice, I would have gone left instead of right, then I probably wouldn’t have ended up in this situation,” he said. “I wanted to be married and work at Kodak — and all that sort of fell through. So, boom! I said, ‘I’m on my way and I’ll figure it out.’ You’ve got to live it and then look back and say, ‘OK.’ Anything could have set [me] in a different direction and I wouldn’t be sitting here, and I wouldn’t change sitting here for the world.”

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