Ray

Ray (2004)

Timing: 2:32 (152 min)

7.448/10
2180

8.052/10
92022

7.7/10
165000

All about film

Video 8

Photo 30

Actors and characters

Release date

2004-10-29

Country

United States

Production

Universal Pictures, Bristol Bay Productions, Anvil Films, Baldwin Entertainment Group

Genre

Drama, Music

Budget

$40 000 000

Revenue

$124 700 000

Website

Director

Taylor Hackford

Actors

Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King, Harry Lennix, Clifton Powell, Bokeem Woodbine, Sharon Warren, C.J. Sanders, Curtis Armstrong, Richard Schiff
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Taylor Hackford, Howard Baldwin, Karen Elise Baldwin, Stuart Benjamin, William J. Immerman, Jaime Rucker King

Operator

Paweł Edelman

Composer

Craig Armstrong

Artist

Audition

Nancy Klopper

Editing

Paul Hirsch, Yvonne Yaconelli
All team (56)

• Taylor Hackford acquired the rights to make a film about Ray Charles back in 1987.
• For many years, Taylor Hackford was unable to find a studio willing to finance the production. Eventually, after several successful films, the director was able to realize this project as an independent film.
• Universal Studios joined the project as a distributor only after the film was completely finished. This was partly due to the fact that one of the studio's executives was a fan of Ray Charles and once hitchhiked to Hollywood frequently to attend his concerts.
• Cinematographer Pavel Edelmann, a big fan of Ray Charles, was the first member of the crew to join the project, a year before filming began.
• To better portray a blind person, actor Jamie Foxx attended classes for the blind at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles.
• Jamie Foxx played the piano himself in all the musical episodes.
• At the request of Ray Charles, the script was specially printed in Braille for him.
• Ray Charles' wife, Della Bea (Kerry Washington), was actually his second wife. His first wife was Eileen Williams, whom he married in 1951 and divorced in 1952.
• While undergoing rehabilitation, Ray meets a doctor in the hospital whose badge reads: T. Hacker, which is an allusion to the film's director, Taylor Hackford.
• Ray Charles died of liver failure shortly after filming concluded.
• The film was originally titled "Free My Heart: The Story of Ray Charles." However, after Ray Charles' death, it was decided to simply title the film "Ray."
• The final shots of the film show the real Ray Charles.
• The director's cut of the film has a runtime of 178 minutes.
• The film is based on Ray Charles' autobiography, published in 1978 and titled "Brother Ray" (one of Ray Charles' nicknames).
• Taylor Hackford acquired the rights to make a film about Ray Charles as early as 1987.
• Ray Charles' wife, Della Bea (Kerry Washington), was actually his second wife. His first wife was Eileen Williams, whom he married in 1951 and divorced in 1952.
• Jamie Foxx wore special eye prosthetics, partially made of silicone, which meant he genuinely couldn’t see during filming, and shoots lasted up to 14 hours a day. He later recounted in interviews that during the first two weeks of filming, as he adjusted to blindness, he was sometimes overcome with fear. On multiple occasions, the rest of the film crew completely forgot that he was blind and, for example, left him alone at the dining table, automatically assuming he would find his way back to the set after lunch.
• According to Jamie Foxx, he had practically no time for sleep during filming. He would wake up early, spend the whole day on set, and then return home and rehearse playing the piano for several hours.
• Universal Studios joined the project as a distributor only after the film was fully completed. This was partly due to the fact that one of the studio's executives was a fan of Ray Charles and once frequently hitchhiked to his concerts in Hollywood.
• The film was originally titled "Free My Heart: The Story of Ray Charles." However, after Ray Charles' death, it was decided to simply title the film "Ray."