Do You Associate Jamie Foxx With Martin Luther King Jr.? You May If He’s Cast In New Role
It is being reported that director Oliver Stone is developing a Marin Luther King Jr. bio pic for Dreamworks, and he’s approached Jamie Foxx about playing the title role. At this point its all rumor according to CraveOnline .
While nothing is certain at this point, the actor and director worked together for Ray (2004) and again in Any Given Sunday (1999). If you are a follower of film, I’m sure you’ve noticed that directors like to repeat what’s working even  it means working with the same composers, actors, or writers over and over again for decades. I’d say the rumor is very feasible.
I have mixed feelings about the casting. Jamie Foxx, great as he is, has been in the spotlight a lot recently. He’s appeared in very wide reaching films including Django Unchained (2012) and White House Down (2013), and will appear in The Amazing Spiderman 2 in 2014. White and Black audiences alike are becoming very familiar with him, which can be huge a box office draw.
On the other hand, audiences may become so familiar with him that it could detract from an important performance. I’m sure many viewers want to see Martin Luther King Jr. – not Jamie Foxx – when they sit down to watch the film. It may be hard to separate him from all his recent personas.
Can you think of any other Black actors you’d like to see play Marin Luther King Jr.? Perhaps a young Black actor could pull it off – in which case my suggestion is Chadwick Boseman who played Jackie Robinson in this year’s 42. He’s also playing James Brown in an upcoming Biopic.
What are your suggestions? Leave them in the comments.
