Jamie Foxx is ‘so happy and honoured’ to be part of history-making Pixar film ‘Soul’

The upcoming animated film Soul arrives this holiday season and marks a major milestone for Pixar—it’s the studio’s first film to feature a Black protagonist. Jamie Foxx plays Pixar’s first Black lead ever, Joe Gardner, a middle school band teacher who finally gets his chance to perform jazz music on stage, but as he’s celebrating the new accomplishment, he falls down a manhole and ends up in a coma sending his soul to the Great Before.

Ahead of the release on Christmas Day, etalk’s Traci Melchor spoke with stars Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Angela Bassett, Phylicia Rashad and Questlove about being part of the history-making Pixar movie.

Foxx told Traci that he is “so happy and honoured” to be the first Black lead. “You think about what we’ve gone through in these past couple of years and what we’ve gone through in these past four years, we need a good story. We need a great, fun, warm story, and it happens to be wrapped in Black. I think it’s a beautiful thing, and I was on In Living Color,” Foxx said. “When we were on In Living Color we were unapologetically Black and funny, and I never even put it in my head like Keenen [Wayans] is my boss, and I didn’t even realize we were the only Black show, only Black creators.”

Foxx said, now being part of Soul, “it’s a wonderful thing, and that’s what we need, we need to keep moving, we need more of it and don’t stop there.” He also shared the cute tidbit that his youngest daughter Annalise Bishop, 12, told him, “Dad, you finally made it” after he landed the role in Soul.

Tina Fey plays the character 22 who has spent eons in the Great Before and meets Foxx’s character when he accidentally winds up there. Fey and Foxx had the chance to record some sessions together for Soul, and she said that his performance in this movie “is so incredible.” The 30 Rock multihyphenate said that Foxx is a “very gifted actor and comedian,” and it was great to be in the booth with him. “I think he brings so much comedy to Joe but also such depth and warmth to him that you just really believe that that’s a real guy. You’re just so fully on board with him,” she added

Angela Bassett said she first watched Soul with her 15-year-old twins – son Slater Josiah Vance and daughter Bronwyn Golden Vance. “I was only privy to my character and my scenes and not to the whole of the movie. I had no idea we were going to the great beyond and the Great Before. When I thought, ‘Well, we’re going to stay here. We’re never going back,’ and then we wind back in life through this incredible storytelling,” she said, adding that her teen twins only knew as much as she did.

The American Horror Story star plays saxophone player Dorothea Williams. She said that her kids “absolutely enjoyed” the Pixar movie. They understood the messages of “being unique and special and following your dreams and passions.” Bassett said that her son told her he can’t wait for the movie to be released because he wants the world to share the message of not letting “other’s stereotypes of you define you.”

Phylicia Rashad, who plays Joe’s mother Libba Gardner, told Traci that Soul is a film “that celebrates humanity through the lens of the lives of characters who are Black.”

Questlove opened up about his Pixar debut being an animated film that celebrates Black excellence. “What really drew me to this film is because similar to Joe Gardner, I too was kind of at a crossroads in my life trying to figure out like, OK well, am I happy? Am I really fulfilling my life dream? Do I have that spark and that flame inside me? Do I still enjoy doing this?” Questlove said, calling his choice to voice his character Curly, “one of the wisest career decisions I’ve ever made.” He added that “Soul couldn’t have come at a better time.”.

BEFORE YOU GO: Bella Hadid’s mac and cheese recipe has left fans horrified

[video_embed id='2093347']BEFORE YOU GO: Bella Hadid’s mac and cheese recipe has left fans horrified[/video_embed]