Jamie Foxx Had A Real Reverence For Willem Dafoe During Spider-Man: No Way Home
The "Amazing Spider-Man" movies aren't as widely celebrated as the Sam Raimi trilogy, or as popular as the MCU Spidey flicks. But for me, there was a heart to "The Amazing Spider-Man" and its 2014 sequel that made Andrew Garfield's two outings as the wall-crawler just as good as any other Spider-Man movie. Unfortunately, I am very much in the minority on this highly important topic. Sure, they have their fans, but people in general just didn't seem to resonate with the Garfield films and their tragic history. Which is fine, especially since we got to see Garfield's Peter Parker return to rapturous applause in 2021's "Spider-Man: No Way Home."
Alongside him were a couple of villains from the "Amazing Spider-Man"-verse, including the Rhys Ifans' Lizard, who basically manifested as CGI mixed with some reused footage from the original movie. More importantly, though, Jamie Foxx was given another go at portraying Maxwell Dillon/Electro after an appearance in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" that didn't exactly play to the actor's strengths.
None of that was Foxx's fault, mind you. The character was basically written as somewhat of a comic book cliche — a timid outcast who eventually gains some modicum of power and takes his frustrations out on innocents. It was essentially a rehash of Jim Carrey's Riddler in "Batman Forever," but with more glowing blue skin and worse writing. But with "No Way Home" came a chance to redeem the "Amazing Spider-Man" movies and their missteps (of which there were actually very few), particularly in the case of Foxx's Electro (who the actor once promised in a now-deleted Instagram would be back in a new, non-blue, "thousand percent badass" form). And to the actor's pleasant surprise, he would also find himself surrounded by some personal heroes.
'Mr. Dafoe — as I would call him'
Apparently the whole not being blue thing was a big deal for Jamie Foxx and his return as Electro in "No Way Home." Which makes sense, considering the cerulean glow obscured much of the actor's performance post-transformation in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2." His new "badass" look in "No Way Home" allowed Foxx to appear sans heavy-handed CGI and with his face completely unobscured for much of the film. That worked out well for him, since he was acting alongside another performer he evidently felt to be one of the best to ever do it.
Speaking to Marvel.com around the time "No Way Home" hit theaters, Foxx revealed his admiration for his co-stars, saying he was excited to be on set "with some of the most incredible actors and actresses in the world." But he saved special praise for Willem Dafoe, who famously returned to what was arguably his best-known role by reprising his Norman Osborn/Green Goblin character. According to Foxx, Dafoe was a pleasure to be around while shooting "No Way Home," thanks to his penchant for "doing jokes and everything like that," which evidently had the "Ray" star "on the ground cracking up."
But it wasn't just Dafoe's sense of humor that impressed Foxx:
"Mr. Dafoe — as I would call him — every time I walked onto set, I would bow seven times [at him]. I said, 'I'm going to bow seven times because I've been watching [your movies] for years and you're just amazing.'"
Foxx and Dafoe are two greats
It's easy to see why Jamie Foxx would be so enamored of Willem Dafoe and his career. Since his first starring role in 1981's "The Loveless," Dafoe has consistently been one of the most interesting and talented performers in Hollywood, as capable of pulling off delightfully deranged performances in off-the-wall Robert Eggers projects as he is at lending his voice talents to animated Pixar adventures.
Foxx, for his part, is absolutely no slouch either. He won a Best Actor Oscar for his uncanny portrayal of Ray Charles in 2004's "Ray" and was that same year nominated for his supporting role in the Tom Cruise-led "Collateral." One of my personal favorite Foxx performances remains his portrayal of real-life musician Nathaniel Ayers opposite Robert Downey Jr. in 2009's "The Soloist," where he once again disappeared in the role — something Dafoe is also known for doing.
The fact that these two got to work together in and of itself is great. But it's also nice to see actors fanboying over other actors, especially since "No Way Home" was basically a fanboy celebration, bringing back beloved Spider-Man movie characters and generally scratching a nostalgic itch many of us didn't even know we had. Let's hope we get an "Amazing Spider-Man 3" with the two of them reuniting yet again.