Jamie Foxx opened up about starring alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Django Unchained (Picture: Shutterstock)
Jamie Foxx has reflected on his iconic stint in Django Unchained, sharing that Leonardo DiCaprio struggled with his character’s use of the N-word.
Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece was released in 2012, with Samuel L Jackson, Chrisopher Waltz, Kerry Washington and Walton Goggins also in the cast.
The Back in Action actor took on the titular role of Django, who arrives at the plantation of psychotic slave owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo), in an attempt to free his long-lost wife, Broomhilda (Kerry).
Watching clips of the movie in a new interview with Vanity Fair, the 57-year-old recalled the moment his co-star stopped a read of the script as he had a hard time using the racial slurs in the dialogue.
‘Incredible. It was an all-star game,’ he said of the flick. ‘The subject matter. The N-word, specifically. Leo had a hard time saying the N-word.
‘We’re doing a read and Leo says, “Hey, guys. Cut! I just can’t do this. This is not me.” Samuel L Jackson goes, ‘Say that s**t, mother**ker! It’s just another Tuesday. F**k them.”
Leo starred as vile slave owner Calvin Candie (Picture: Shutterstock)
Jamie stole the show as the titular character (Picture: Shutterstock)
‘I told Leo that in slavery days we would never talk to each other, so I’m not your friend. I’m not Jamie Foxx, I’m Django.
‘I told him, you won’t really be able to play that character until you understand what slavery is about. It was tough. it was horrific.
‘The next day I see Leo, he walks in and I say what’s up to him. He don’t speak to me. He’s ready. Everybody started digging in.’
He also heaped praise on Samuel L Jackson’s efforts (Picture: Netflix)
The iconic film was released in 2012 (Picture: Shutterstock)
Jamie also took a moment to heap praise on Samuel’s performance as Stephen, Calvin’s fiercely loyal slave.
‘Samuel L Jackson was better than all of us. He should’ve gotten an Oscar. The way he would turn it on and turn it off,’ he added.
‘That’s what the level was in this incredible movie.’
Django went on to rake in $426million worldwide, and became one of Quentin’s most celebrated movies across his incredible career.
The movie received five Oscar nominations and took home two, including a best supporting actor trophy for Christopher Waltz and best original screenplay for the filmmaker.
Quentin also took home a Golden Globe and a Bafta for the screenplay, while much of the cast were snubbed.
Leo has previously touched on his stint as Calvin, explaining that he found it tough as he couldn’t ‘identify’ with the ‘horrific’ character.
Speaking about the role, he said, via the Daily Star: ‘It was this incredibly interesting horrific character. I mean, there was absolutely nothing about this man I could identify with.
Leo shared that he ‘hated’ the ‘horrific’ character (Picture: Shutterstock)
‘I hated him and it was one of the most narcissistic, racist characters I’ve ever read in my entire life.
‘One of the pivotal moments for me was this initial read through, I wondered if it needed to be this violent and this atrocious to other human beings.
‘It was Sam and Jamie who said, “If you sugarcoat this people are going to resent the hell out of you. You got to push this guy to the outer extreme.”’
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