"One of my favorite actors, and he was kind and humble and hilarious — all wrapped up in a ball of energy!" Thom says. "He came over to our table (we were sitting right behind him while he played piano) and just opened up to us. As private as he is, he was pretty open to our table about his situation without telling us exactly what happened."
The ad features Foxx wearing a black suit while playing piano at NoMad Library inside the Park MGM Las Vegas while touting the sports-betting app.
"He was the nicest," Thom says of Foxx. "He was funny. His improv abilities are unmatched. The entire set was laughing at his jokes. He is talented, in the most natural way."
"Jamie brought his charismatic energy to every take during our jam-packed shoot schedule," Burmester said. "From minute one on set, he was laughing and cracking jokes with the crew — not to mention that was actually him on the piano, tickling the ivories.”
Burmester praised Foxx's ability to bring "such range to the words on the page — with a mix of attention-grabbing delivery and just the right amount of humor to elevate the creative."
"He’s also always on, even when the camera’s off, telling the crew some of the best stories you’ve ever heard and doing impressions that make you do a double take, they’re so spot on," he added.
Foxx's appearance in the advertisement comes four months after Foxx experienced a medical emergency in April while he filmed the Netflix movie Back in Action.
He opened up about his recovery in a July video on Instagram, telling fans, "I went to hell and back. And my road to recovery had some potholes as well. But I'm coming back. And I'm able to work."
The actor has appeared in a number of recent movies this year, including They Cloned Tyrone, Strays and God Is a Bullet. A trailer for his next movie, The Burial, was released Thursday.
