It’s Ol’ Brown Eyes!
Josh Layton, Daily Star (London), May 18, 2009
Hollywood star Jamie Foxx is set to play out of his skin–in a shock film role as Frank Sinatra.
Movie bosses want to prove the big screen is colour blind by casting black actor Foxx, 41, as Ol’ Blue Eyes.
George Clooney, 48, Leonardo DiCaprio, 34, Harry Connick Jnr, 41, and Justin Timberlake, 28, were tipped for the role.
But Foxx has emerged as surprise favourite to play the singing legend–who died 11 years ago aged 82–in the biopic directed by Martin Scorsese, 66.
An industry insider said: “Jamie would seem to be born to the role.
“Magnificent voice, convincing acting ability–like Frank himself–born the wrong side of the tracks, makes it big against the odds, has his brushes with authority.
“The guy’s a gift.” Foxx shot to fame in 1999 in Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday and won an Oscar for playing Ray Charles in the 2004 film Ray.
He has also had a string of hit music releases, including Gold Digger with Kanye West, 31.
He was adopted as a baby by his grandparents and raised a strict Baptist in a racially-segregated Texan community.
Sinatra, who was raised in New Jersey by Italian immigrants, also shot to fame despite a gritty upbringing during the Great Depression.
The My Way star, who won 11 Grammy awards, also combined a music career with film roles.
For years agents at the FBI kept a 2,500-page dossier on the performer, because of his links to Mafia characters.
[Editor’s note: We are aware that this story is a hoax. Several British newspapers found this “report” credible simply because of the reference to multi-cultural or “color-blind” casting.]
