Jamie Foxx reflects on stroke and 20-Day coma, makes Hollywood return with Cameron Diaz

Jamie Foxx has opened up about his terrifying health scare, revealing he initially thought he was being "pranked" after waking up from a 20-day coma. In an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, the 57-year-old actor recalled the shock of discovering that he had been unconscious for nearly three weeks after suffering a stroke caused by a brain bleed.

Foxx shared that he "didn’t remember anything" from the moment he was rushed to the hospital to when he regained consciousness. "I was very unwell but now I am back feeling good," Foxx said. "It makes you realize that you need people that care and love you around to get you through it."

His stroke, which occurred during filming in April 2023, left Foxx unable to walk when he woke up. "I found myself in a wheelchair. I couldn't walk," he recalled. Despite the severity of his condition, he didn’t immediately accept the diagnosis. "I didn't want to believe I'd had a stroke," he added.

Foxx's return to Hollywood came alongside co-star Cameron Diaz in the action-comedy Back in Action. He explained that after his health scare, he knew he needed to get back to work in a way that would feel right, using humor as a form of recovery. “I told so many jokes people thought I was mad, and then I would act as someone else – for three whole days I was Denzel Washington,” he joked.

Diaz, who also returns to acting after a decade-long break, praised Foxx for being instrumental in her decision to return to film. She reflected, “If I was going to leave my family for 10 hours a day, I wanted to do it with the most talented man in the entertainment business.”

The Graham Norton Show airs on BBC One, with Jamie and Cameron sharing their experiences on January 17th.