Jamie Foxx on playing a slave, Leo learning to say the ‘N-word’

When you’re an Oscar-winning Hollywood star with a Range Rover and a closet full of Louis Vuitton, it’s not easy adopting the mind-set of a recently freed slave — just ask Jamie Foxx.

The actor paid a visit to “The Tonight Show” Wednesday to promote his new movie, the Quentin Tarantino-helmed revenge saga “Django Unchained.” As he told Jay Leno, getting into character was a bit of a challenge.

“That was tough for me, having to act like I can’t read, or having to be subservient to someone, or to hear the N-word over and over again,” Foxx said, recalling how Tarantino pulled him aside and said that unless he really went back to 1858, the movie wouldn’t work.

But if it was hard for Foxx to hear the racial slur repeatedly, it wasn’t much easier for his costar, Leonardo DiCaprio, to utter it — even in character as a brutal plantation owner. “At one point he said, oh, buddy, this is tough,” Foxx recalled.

Luckily, Samuel L. Jackson — who’s never been a prude when it comes to language — stepped in with some advice. “[He] leans over to Leo and says, ‘Hey MF, this is just another Tuesday for us,’ ” Foxx said.

Message received, loud and clear.

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