Jamie Foxx feared going insane

Jamie Foxx used to fear going insane.

The singer-and-actor – who plays a homeless, schizophrenic musical genius in 'The Soloist' – found his new role difficult at first because it brought back his childhood terror of developing a mental illness.

He said: "I always had a childhood fear of losing my mind. So it was scary to play someone schizophrenic. We're all artists and we all go to different places in our minds, and I know how they feel. There was a bit of a fear going into the project. I really had to feel like this person. I had to feel like I was losing it."

Jamie worked so hard on developing his character, Nathaniel Ayers, he began to believe he was Nathaniel, and started calling his manager for help.

He added to the Chicago Sun Times newspaper: "I actually thought I was Nathaniel at one point and called my manager late at night to explain to him why Nathaniel does what he does. I explained, 'Nathaniel will say, "Red shirt, blue shirt, jeans," so it would keep him sane. If you were looking at it from the outside, it would look like the guy is insane."

Jamie – who won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of blind soul musician Ray Charles in the biopic 'Ray' - also had to learn new instruments for the role and admits it is one of his most challenging films to date.

He added: "It was easy and hard to learn to play the violin and cello. I love music, so that part was fascinating to me, although the hard part was looking like I was really gifted with these particular instruments."