Jamie Foxx got his start going for laughs, then proved that he was serious about acting. Now, the Academy Award winner (Ray) is paired with Gerard Butler in the riveting drama Law Abiding Citizen. The flick raises troubling questions about the justice system.

Foxx gave Parade.com’s Jeanne Wolf his frank opinion about taking the law into his own hands.



Passing judgment on Roman Polanski.

“If it had been my daughter who was barely a teenager–my daughter is 15–Roman Polanski would be missing . . . period. It wouldn’t even get to the court case. But, that’s me and I wouldn’t want anyone else to follow that because you should let the justice system work it out. On the other hand, I don’t know Roman Polanski, but maybe if I had a relationship with him my answer would be different. I just think this whole issue is bigger than Roman Polanski.”



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Where do you draw the line?

“Revenge is a tough thing. When it comes to someone bringing harm to your family, it’s hard to think about turning the other cheek. When I hear about things that we allow to go on in our society where women are harmed, I just knee-jerk. I’ve said some things publicly that my publicist keeps telling me I should keep to myself. I don’t know if that’s my Texas upbringing, but there comes a point where you just say, ‘OK, that would be my tipping point. What would I do?’ Some of things I’ve said I’d do to sexual perpetrators were pretty graphic. But I also read some stories of people taking the law into their own hands, which is bad too. So it’s tough to know how far you’d go.”

Trying not to get left behind with his choices as a singer.

“I’m just going to stay current. It’s like all my R&B cohorts are out of jobs right now. Nobody wants to hear R&B. It’s sad. If you want to be on the radio you got to stay young. My daughter always goes, ‘Dad you sound old. You sound 50. Why don’t you have a machine on your voice? They’re not going to like that. You gotta sound young.’ Then when she heard me sing ‘Blame It,’ she went, ‘That’s it. That’s real music.'”



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The real appeal of R&B.

“When you sing R&B songs in front of an audience, you look out and there’s 85% women. I think R&B music is sort of designed for a man singing to a woman. I don’t sing it like the sexy thing, but sort of pseudo-sexy. We rally the women together because it’s about being independent and things like that.”



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The celebrity challenge.

“It’s hard to be a celebrity nowadays. It’s not about your track record anymore. If you have a great movie, you’re good. If not, people are ready to write you off. I think the only ones who are really winning are people like Will Smith. People go, ‘Oh, it’s Will Smith. I’ve got to see him, whatever he’s in.’ It’s tough because the lines have been blurred. I was watching that reality show with Jon and Kate. They’re huge, and I don’t even know what they’re huge for. They somehow crossed over because they’re just as popular as Brad Pitt.”



Beware of YouTube.

“If you’re somewhat successful, you can keep on doing your thing. But don’t get caught out there looking goofy. It’s weird. When you do something that stinks, it’s going to last forever on the Internet. There’s always someone in the audience with a camera phone and if you’re not 100%, you’re going to be watching yourself on YouTube.”