VFX Jamie Foxx is the first-ever African-American to play lead in a Pixar film -

Jamie Foxx is the first-ever African-American to play lead in a Pixar film

Jamie Foxx

Actor Jamie Foxx is going to be the first-ever African American lead in a Pixar film.

Foxx, who’ll be seen voicing the lead character of Pixar’s upcoming animated film, Soul, recently realised the fact of creating history and finds it “crazy”.

As told to ew.com, Foxx mentioned, “You know what was crazy? It is. I didn’t know that.”

A still from ‘Soul’ – Joe Gardner

Co-directed by two-time Oscar winner Pete Docter and Kemp Powers, Soul features the journey of Joe Gardner, a middle-school band teacher (voiced by Foxx) and how he is about to find his true calling. Having lost his passion for music, Gardner seeks the help of a soul named 22 to find his way back and, in the process, learn a lot about himself on a journey of discovery, introspection and self-realisation.

Soul, which has been postponed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, “talks about the value of getting a second chance,” revealed the actor.

Speaking about his daughter’s reaction for doing the animated film, Foxx added, “She was like, ‘Dad, you finally made it. You’re in a Pixar film! [My animated alter ego] Oh, man! That’s kind of me, in a sense; the pot belly and the skinny legs. My daughter was like, ‘They got you’.”

Originally scheduled to hit the big screens on 19 June, Disney pushed the theatrical release of Soul to 20 November 2020.

VFX