Actor Cuba Gooding Jr reveals the bad choices he made in his career and why he is now directing
AN Oscar-winning performance in Jerry Maguire put Cuba Gooding Jr firmly in the spotlight. The trouble was, he was frozen by it and emotionally revealed why that time was a dark period for him.
Confidential
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AN Oscar-winning performance in Jerry Maguire put Cuba Gooding Jr firmly in the spotlight.
The trouble was, he was frozen by it.
“The lows (of acting) are always the waiting to work,” Gooding told Confidential in Sydney yesterday.
“I remember I won the Oscar and it took almost a year to convince a director to put me in a movie and that movie was with Robin Williams, What Dreams May Come. That was a dark period because I had to wait.”
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The 50-year-old recently revealed a series of bad choices, including turning down major roles in films like Ray and Hotel Rwanda, meant his career floundered for a number of years.
But thanks to playing OJ Simpson in American Crime Story and appearing in American Horror Story, he’s now very much in demand and in Australia working with Optus.
He’s an ambassador for the telco giant and will direct a series of ads.
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“I turned down a lot of directors that had offered me roles and I think I had prepared for failure but nobody tells you and teaches you to prepare for success,” he reflected.
“When success comes, if you are not clear-headed and know what you want, it will kick you right out. That is what happened with me. I had a lot of opportunities that I said no to because I didn’t think it was right. I was overwhelmed — you live and you learn.”
Gooding has learnt a lot in his more than 30 years in the business, which is why he’s taken matters into his own hands and directed his first feature film, Bayou Caviar.
“I am hooked,” he said.
“It is one of those things where I’d rather direct than act, really. I truly mean that. Directors are problem solvers so you have to be clear of mind and focused and quick, and that is, I think, my style.”
He described being an Oscar winner as obtaining a gold pass to a secret club of sorts.
“When there is an area of the business that I haven’t stepped into, I get a pass or kind of like a handheld walk into whatever it is, be it directing, writing, producing, because they can sell it as Academy Award winner.
“So that is the monetary gain of having that title in that you get an opportunity to step into uncharted territory because they feel like it is a certain pedigree even though you haven’t done something like that before.”
As for Optus, Gooding will meet hopeful actors tomorrow as he and casting directors try to find Australia’s next big talent to star in a TV commercial he will direct later this year.