Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
#1Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:27am
Saw Dreamgirls for the second time last night on cable and while i enjoyed it a second time around. The one person in the whole cast who was miscast was Jamie Foxx, the acting was wooden, the singing barley passable, i lost interest everytime he walked on screen.
One wonders how much better the movie would have been with out him.
sondhead
Broadway Star Joined: 10/25/06
#2re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:29am
I liked him. I'd leave it the same.
Which surprised me, honestly, because I really don't care for him usually
Trekkie2
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/7/06
#2re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:38amGiven that he had just won an Oscar for playing a singer who was gaining fame during the time that Dreamgirls takes place, he was a pretty clear choice. I agree that his performance was disappointing, but if someone else had been cast, we'd all be saying that HE should have been cast.
TooDarnHot
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/7/08
#3re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:42am
Jamie Foxx was perfectly fine, in the role.
no arguments here...
#4re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:54amHe was the one thing that stopped the movie from soaring, the rest of the cast was brillant, Foxx looked bored and mumbled a great deal of his lines.
#5re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:56am
Rosscoe, he wasn't miscast, to me miscast suggests that the person was wrong for the role, and Jamie Foxx was completely right. He had just won an Oscar (as Trekkie said), he has a commanding presence, and can pull off Asshole really well--umm, he does it in every interview, red carpet event, etc so do it on film can't be much of a stretch.
Saying he was miscast is a bad excuse for the awful, misconceived, dull, boring, aloof, painful performance he gave in DREAMGIRLS. At first I didn't think much of Beyonce, but after seeing the movie a dozen times, I think she does a good job (though some of her line readings aren't all that great), yet she has the excuse that she isn't experienced in movies. As an Oscar-winner, Foxx owed us a first-rate performance, which he doesn't give.
I think Will Smith, whom I believe was considered for the role, would have been pitch-perfect.
TooDarnHot
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/7/08
#6re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:56am
Wow. Couldn't disagree more.
He wasn't "brilliant" (and I don't think the rest of the cast was either) but he was perfectly fine. it's 2008... it's too late now anyway.
JP2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/2/07
#7re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:58am
Definitely the worst person in the film
Wooden is an understatement.
Brick
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/21/06
#8re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 1:07am
Will Smith is simply too likeable, an Everyman.
The more I watch the film the more I'm disappointed in Bill Condon's inability to pull the cast into an ensemble all performing on the same level - hell, even in the same film! You have Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy playing over, an underrated Beyonce playing under, and Jamie Foxx disappearing on the screen.
(And don't get me started on how he restructured the book to try "tricking" the audience into a book musical! It didn't work. Sorry. Just be what you are and be proud. It's a musical. Get over it and tell the story!)
#9re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 1:17am
Ray, that about sums it up. His "When i first saw you" was beyond awful.
Also having never seen the musical onstage, was not Dreamgirls about 90% sung?
#10re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 1:18am
I'm so glad somebody else liked Beyonce in that movie. I thought she was amazing, but seemed to be in the minority.
As for Jamie Foxx, I don't know who I'd pick instead of him. But ray-andallthatjazz86 hit the nail on the head.
DTBG2
Featured Actor Joined: 3/15/05
#11re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 1:21am
The problem wasn't Jamie Foxx being cast as Curtis.
The problem was the choices he made as an actor, and the changes to the character he made and fought the director on. Like how Jamie thought Curtis shouldn't sing so much....And optioned to speak several lines that were originally written to be sung. He totally ruined "It's all over." Which made me sad, because that's my favorite song in DreamGirls.
And, my opinion, but he totally looked like he was phoning it in the entire movie...
Hate Jamie Foxx...
#12re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 1:30am
I could almost see him rolling his eyes every time he attempted to sing. If he didn't want to be in a musical... then he shouldn't have been.
I think Will Smith can play unlikable, and he has the acting chops to do so. He is a two-time Oscar nominee, he can carry a movie BO-wise like VERY few actors, and he is charismatic enough for us to believe that both Deena and Effie would fall over this guy. As it it, one wonders why Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce couldn't find a hotter, more exciting man to fight over.
#13re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 2:00am
I think the only character that I really liked performance wise was Anika Noni Rose's Lorrell.
She was the only one who actually showed growth throughout the movie. She pulled off young, exciteable teenaged girl pretty well, both in acting and in singing (she starts out with a little higher, squeaky voice), but by the end of the movie, has matured into a poised woman (as in the Lorrell Loves Jimmy number).
Everyone else was a little more one-note acting and singing wise through out the movie, and that's what turned me off of some of the movie. I'm sure if both Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson had a little more acting experience they would be a lot better. I did find that Jamie Foxx was the weakest link amongst everyone, as he had this uncomfortable look on him most of the movie, like he knew everyone around him was a much better singer than him, so he always looked tentative.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#14re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 2:00am
yeah i felt jamie foxx was horrible.
but i wouldve gone for Usher.
#15re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 2:21amI know they offered the role to Denzel, and I could see him being much better than Jamie Fox (who I agree was beyond the weakest link in the film). Smith, or if he could sing, Don Cheadle (sp?), would probably have done better.
#16re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 2:36am
Don Cheadle (sp?) is inspired casting, jewishboy, you are very good at those!
Denzel Washington would have been perfect as well.
#17re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 2:39am
Jamie sounded awful as Curtis.
It would never have happened, but I would have loved to see Norm Lewis.
eatlasagna
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#18re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 3:28ami actually wanted Terence Howard to do the role...
#19re: Dreamgirls: Who should have been cast instead of Jamie Foxx?
Posted: 6/9/08 at 3:33amTOPOL
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