This article originally appeared on People.
Jamie Foxx says he has Oprah Winfrey to thank for saving his career.
Foxx, 49, revealed that Winfrey staged an intervention for the actor when his drinking and hard partying threatened to derail his career in the months following the release of the 2004 biopic Ray and his first Oscar nomination.
“I’m having such a good time and I’m not knowing I’m f—– up,” Foxx told Howard Stern’s SiriusXM radio show on Tuesday. “I’m drinking, I’m doing every f—— thing you could possibly imagine.”
During the height of his binge, Foxx said he received an unexpected phone call from Winfrey, who told him, “You’re blowing it.”
“[She said], ‘All of this gallivanting and all this kind of s—, that’s not what you want to do … want to take you somewhere. Make you understand the significance of what you’re doing.’ “
To help Foxx get back on the right path, Winfrey organized a meeting of several legendary black actors at the home of Quincy Jones.
“We go in the house and there are all these old actors,” he recalled. “Black actors from the ’60s and the ’70s. Who look like they just want to say, ‘Good luck.’ They want to say, ‘Don’t blow it.’ “
Foxx said Sidney Poitier, the first African-American to win an Oscar for Best Actor, had a real impact on him.
According to Foxx, Poitier told the actor, “I want to give you responsibility. When I saw your performance [in Ray], it made me grow two inches.”
Foxx said he broke down in tears during the meeting.
“To this day, it’s the most significant time in my life,” he said.
The actor went on to win the Oscar for his performance in Ray — at the time becoming just the third black man to take home the coveted award.
