If a life is merely the sum of its parts, then the story of Ray Charles might read as a tale of personal highs and lows behind a lengthy, award-winning career in the music business.
But for a man who synthesized his struggles, pain and personal darkness as effectively as he incorporated a myriad of musical styles -- Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, Rock and Roll, Gospel, Country & Western -- into his art, the story reads much differently, transformed from a sequence of events and accomplishments into a compelling and ultimately inspiring journey of a one-of-a-kind genius with a distinct vision... who, along the way, gave the world a new way to hear.
Ray is the never-before-told, musical biographical drama of American legend Ray Charles, brought to the big screen following a 15-year journey by award-winning filmmaker TAYLOR HACKFORD and featuring a remarkable performance from the multifaceted JAMIE FOXX.
Director Hackford (The Devil’s Advocate, Dolores Claiborne, An Officer and a Gentleman) -- who, along with producing partner STUART BENJAMIN (La Bamba, The Long Walk Home, Everybody’s All-American), spent the last 15 years developing this story with Ray Charles -- presents a well defined portrait of an artist who turned his personal encounters with darkness into a burning light. The story of Ray -- that of an impoverished, blind child of the segregated South who went on to break down social and artistic barriers and change the history of American music -- is the quintessentially American story of a man’s fight to control his own destiny.
With Foxx assuming the title role in a performance of intensity, breadth and truth, Ray follows the most volatile period of Charles’ career, which starts the moment this young, black, blind teenager courageously boards a Florida bus all alone and heads across the United States to hone his art in the happening Seattle jazz scene. From Ray’s early struggles to be treated fairly and find his own path, to his discovery by Atlantic Records and subsequent meteoric rise to global fame, to his battles with addiction and his torrid love affairs, the journey of Ray leads not only forward but back to Ray’s youth. For, even as he becomes one of his generation’s greatest musical heroes, Ray must come to terms with the fifth year in his life when his brother George died and he began to lose his vision -- a time that had an indelible effect on Ray’s drive, emotions and immortal music.
Ray is a Universal Pictures and Bristol Bay Productions presentation of an Anvil Films Production, in association with Baldwin Entertainment. Jamie Foxx takes on the role of music icon Ray Charles and is joined by a diverse ensemble cast that includes KERRY WASHINGTON (The Human Stain, Against the Ropes) as Ray’s loving wife Della; CLIFTON POWELL (Never Die Alone) as Ray’s early musical partner and road manager Jeff Brown; HARRY LENNIX (The Matrix Revolutions) as Joe Adams, who took over the role of manager later in Ray’s career; TERRENCE DASHON HOWARD (Biker Boyz) as Jazz guitarist Gossie McKee; LARENZ TATE (Why Do Fools Fall in Love) as the young Quincy Jones; RICHARD SCHIFF (The West Wing) and CURTIS ARMSTRONG (Dodgeball) as influential Atlantic Records executives Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegun; BOKEEM WOODBINE (Detonator) as saxophonist David “Fathead” Newman; AUNJANUE ELLIS (Garden State) as Ray’s backup vocalist Mary Ann Fisher; newcomer SHARON WARREN as Ray’s hardworking and dedicated mother, Aretha Robinson; and REGINA KING (A Cinderella Story, Jerry Maguire) as Ray’s girlfriend and powerful backup singer, Margie Hendricks.
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