Pixar's Soul is set to be a very special holiday gift when it begins streaming exclusively on Disney+ December 25. The latest animated film follows aspiring jazz musician and music teacher Joe Gardner (played by Jamie Foxx) as the opportunity of his lifetime transforms into a mystical journey through the after life. Or rather, the before life.
As the first Black protagonist of a Pixar film, the Academy Award-winning actor is making history onscreen - but he's also bringing his own personal experience to the table offscreen. While his character mentors students in his present life, he's also tasked with mentoring the unborn soul 22 (Tina Fey) in the Great Before - and he incorporates his love of jazz music into both sides of his story.
Foxx spoke to Screen Rant about his own personal connection to music and how it influenced the way he related to Joe, as well as what message he hopes Soul can pass down to younger generations.
You have your own personal relationship with music, and it has shaped your life in many ways. How do you relate to Joe on that level, and channel your own love of music?
Jamie Foxx: Oh, listen, I love music so much. I love jazz so much. The fact that Joe plays jazz? I play jazz as well. If you want to check it out, you go on my Instagram (iamjamiefoxx) and check. I got some cool jazz things that I've done
I just thought that was such a great layer to Joe's character, the fact that he wants to teach it. The fact that he wants to instill a dream in all of these other people, all of the students and everything like that - all while holding on to his dream. One he thought may never transpire, and then it does come true almost. Then something incredibly Pixar and Disney happens, and we're off to the races.
Joe struggles with reigniting his spark even when he already knows what it is. How do you reignite your own spark when it's low?
Jamie Foxx: You know what? It seldom gets low. I feel like I always have something to prove, artistically. I changed my management team a few years back, and it gave me new life and new opportunities that I've been that I've been afforded. So, I just have a new spark. Sometimes it takes that; sometimes it takes changing your satellite and twisting it in a different way, so you can get a new look on what life can be. That's what I do. I just wake up every morning and say, "Hey, man, let's go get it."
Can you talk a little about voice acting, and how you develop the dynamics when you're not recording together?
Jamie Foxx: When I first walked in, I was trying to do facial expressions and all, and they were like, "Jamie, we can't see you." But working with Pete and Kemp, they would guide me through it to make sure that we were not only getting the words said right but having it done with compassion if we needed it, or excitement, or anger. And then at the end, they would say, "That sounds animated."
Once you get that stamp, you look at it and it's like, "Wow, it really makes sense," because we can see the finished product is amazing.
Out of all of the different themes that I think speak so powerfully to younger generations, which one do you hope your daughters might take away from Soul?
Jamie Foxx: Oh, man, just the optimism. The optimism and the feeling of good people; someone who wants to help someone out. That's what we're missing right now. No one wants to see someone else's side. When you see someone wallowing in anger or wallowing in depression, you've got to reach in and say, "Hey, there's so much more out here; so much more to enjoy."
We don't have to feast on anger, because feasting on anger doesn't doesn't fill the belly with anything good. I hope they get the goodness out of it, because we need a lot of goodness right now, and to pay attention to each other.
