Jamie Foxx portrays Curtis Taylor Jr. in Dreamgirls, along with one of his co-stars Jennifer Hudson as Effie. The musical is based on the saga of Diana Ross and The Supremes.

For self-described "happy person" Jamie Foxx, the real payoff for his performance in Dreamgirls came during a recent Oprah appearance.

"Oprah said 'Jamie, I don't like you bein' mean,' " Foxx recalls. "That's when you know what you've done is effective.

"Being a celebrity is all about managing a persona, managing perception.

"But if you get a character and it's unforgiven, let it be what it is and ride with it."

In Dreamgirls -- taken from the '82 Broadway hit -- Foxx plays Curtis Taylor Jr., a Svengali-like manager, based on Motown founder Berry Gordy. The rousing musical co-stars Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson, and is based on the saga of Diana Ross and The Supremes. Hudson, Beyonce and Eddie Murphy all play performers who eventually break away from him.

Foxx says he figured out early that everything depended on Curtis' darkness. "I said to Bill (director Bill Condon) 'Curtis has to develop this black hole that people have to escape from.' And we all have Curtises in our life, somebody who tells you you ain't gonna be worth this and that and dadada."

The "Curtis" in Foxx's life? That would be a nameless producer who wasn't impressed when the Oscar-winner set out to make his first hip-hop/R&B album a few years back. "Oh yeah, when I was doing my album I was like 'Oh man, with the success of Ray, we can do this and that ... ' And this guy was like 'Man, I don't give a damn if you sell one record or a million records.' "

Given his moonlighting gig as a recording artist, Foxx says, "I keep getting this question 'Jamie, do you feel left out?' Because everyone else has a song. (Hudson's And I'm Telling You is a famous show-stopper and Beyonce wrote her own 'moment' with a show-ending song called Listen).

"The thing is I, on purpose, went to the studio and did Curtis' vocals just one time, because I didn't think Curtis should sing as well as everybody else. He's the manager. And when you hear him sing in that flawed voice, you know what the Curtises of the world are about. Curtis is the executive that can deliver the dream, but he can't execute. He'll never be able to sing, he'll never be able to dance and so that kind of eats away at him. He can only manipulate the situation."

It wasn't always easy being mean. The real-life Cinderella story of the movie is Hudson, an American Idol also-ran who makes her debut as Effie, the big-voiced, big-bodied leader of The Dreams, who is pushed to the back to make way for the weaker-voiced, more photogenic Deena.

And I'm Telling You is her cry from the soul against this betrayal by a manager and sometime lover. "The first time we did that scene she was right in my face and did not mess up one time. She was lookin' at me like 'I don't care if you're Jamie Foxx and the Oscar whatever. She was like this and that.

"And I was like 'Yeah, she really has it together.' And when she sang the song and the camera is on me, and they're telling me to be tough and mean, I'm choking up."

The real, upbeat Jamie Foxx can be a bit of an admitted pain on any set that's not all fun and games. "I'm a generally happy person, I'm genuinely a little up," Foxx says. "I'd come in like 'Hey, Eddie!' and he'd have his glasses on, face in the script. I was surprised that he's a little shy. And Beyonce was focused too. I had to manage my manners around her. I was mindful that she's in the corner with her people trying to get it together."

With Dreamgirls release, Foxx is taking a break from movies to further serve notice of his music career. On Dec. 26, he starts a 30-city tour of music and standup comedy. "Fantasia's on the bill," he says, and "(his friend) Snoop (Dogg) may be on a few of the bills if he's not incarcerated. It's gonna be a lot of fun."

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