Mike Tyson warns Jamie Foxx about ugly truth of upcoming biopic
Mike Tyson has given actor Jamie Foxx a stern warning about his role as the boxing legend in an upcoming film.
The Hollywood star revealed recently that he's “got the ball rolling” on his planned biopic of Tyson — and now he’s starting the process of transforming his body.
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While that represents no mean feat for Foxx, Tyson has also warned the actor that he could be in for a rude shock when the pair meet to discuss the boxer's chequered life.
Tyson served a lengthy stint in prison after being convicted of raping an 18-year-old woman in 1991 and has an extensive rap sheet that includes drug charges, alcohol abuse and DUI misdemeanours to name but a few.
Regarded as one of the finest and fiercest boxers of all time, Tyson thinks Oscar winner Foxx will do a “great job” of portraying him on the big screen.
However, the legendary boxer concedes his ugly past will be a confronting story to tell.
“I’m very grateful. I’m very excited about it,” Tyson said in an interview on Instagram Live with with Charlie Mack.
“I’m gonna sit down and tell him the truth and he’s gonna have to learn to process that.”
“It’s not going to be pretty.”
Foxx last week told filmmaker Mark Birnbaum on Instagram that he has upped his workout regime in order to get into ring shape by the time filming begins.
Foxx said he is hoping to put on another 10 to 15 pounds (4.5 - 6.8kg) of muscle in order to embody the fighter.
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He revealed his current regime is about “changing the body” and calls for 60 pull ups, 60 dips and 100 press-ups every other day.
“I ain’t got no legs, I ain’t got no calf muscles,” he joked. “So we might have to get some prosthetics for that.”
Speaking about the long gestation period of the Tyson biopic, Foxx said that making movies based on real people is a “tough thing” to do.
He added: “Sometimes it takes 20 years to get them done, but we officially got the real ball rolling.
“I think when we lay the layer of Mike Tyson in this story, I think everybody from young and old will be able to understand this man’s journey.”
Martin Scorsese was originally linked to the movie as director, though Foxx made no mention of him when discussing the latest incarnation of the Tyson project.
Tyson was previously portrayed by Michael Jai White in the 1995 TV movie Tyson.
Foxx has achieved great success portraying real people on the big screen, most notably in his Oscar-winning performance as singer Ray Charles in Taylor Hackford’s 2004 movie Ray.
Tyson, meanwhile, has made a series of cameos in movies, including Rocky Balboa and, most famously, The Hangover and The Hangover Part II.
with Yahoo Sports US
