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Jamie Foxx Plays With Strings For 'Soloist' Role

"Man, yeah, I'm getting into it," Foxx said of the intense lessons he recently undertook to become an expert on the long-bowed member of the violin family. "I'm getting it down; it's a trip when you hear the instrument starting to talk to you. It's nice."

The lessons are part of Foxx's immersion into the world of Nathaniel Ayers, the real-life inspiration for the buzz-heavy upcoming film "The Soloist," which also had Robert Downey Jr. join the cast this week. "It's about a schizophrenic person who lives underneath an L.A. freeway," Foxx explained. "But he's a brilliant cellist and violinist."

"Then it's about a guy riding his bicycle, who also happens to work for the LA Times, and has a wreck on his bicycle," the actor said of Steve Lopez, the real-life reporter who'll be portrayed by Downey. "He hears this guy playing this beautiful music [and] they befriend each other. It's a beautiful story."

Production on the film is escalating quickly due to the impending strike, but it's the combination of script and director that has such award-worthy stars lining up. "It's great, it's a [production] by [director] Joe Wright, an English cat," Foxx said. "He's 34-years-old, and he's the youngest director to open the Venice Film Festival with his new movie 'Atonement.' He also did 'Pride and Prejudice.'"

"We'll start that in January," the star of next month's "The Kingdom" said excitedly. "When 'The Soloist' comes up, I fly to London like 'Yo!' Nothing but a cardigan sweater on, no earrings or nothing! I was like 'I really wanna do this film with you, sir.' I asked {Wright] to be in the film, and it all worked out."

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