Jamie Foxx came close to working together in 1996, on rom-com Jerry Maguire. Foxx auditioned, and read with Cruise, but the part ended up going to Cuba Gooding Jr. Foxx would end up co-starring with Cruise, however, in Michael Mann’s superb neo-noir thriller movie Collateral in 2004. Cruise delivers one of his best ever performances, playing against type, as the villainous Vincent.
Speaking on the Graham Norton Show in 2014, Foxx firstly described his Jerry Maguire audition, in which he realised that he was delivering the lines too loudly. He then went onto to describe the moment he realised that he wasn’t the star of Collateral. In the movie, Vincent hijacks a taxi, driven by Max (Foxx) and he forces him to drive him around to his various criminal activities.
Foxx says; “We’re in the car, and we’re driving and we’re supposed to do a stunt where I crash into another car. But the car gets out of control and I actually do crash into the car. And when they get there, they’re like; ‘Jamie get out of the way. Tom, are you OK?!‘ And that’s how you know where you are.”
Jamie Foxx would go onto be nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Collateral, in the same year that he won Best Actor for Ray. Since then, he’s gone on to star in Michael Mann’s Miami Vice, Dreamgirls, Django Unchained, Annie, Baby Driver, Robin Hood, Just Mercy, Soul, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. He most recently starred in the fun action vampire comedy Day Shift on Netflix. Foxx is a multi-hyphenate, who is also a comedian, talk radio host, and music performer.
The role of Vincent in Collateral, followed by Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder in 2008, are probably among the last times that Cruise has played non-heroic and unlikeable characters. Since then, he’s been churning out many Missions Impossible, starring in two Jack Reacher movies, the science fiction movie Edge of Tomorrow, and attempting to kickstart the dark universe with The Mummy. Oh – and saving cinema with Top Gun: Maverick, of course.
Check out our guide to the best action movies.