Jamie Foxx says he saw a hot tunnel, not the light during health scare: 'S---, am I going to the right place?'

Jamie Foxx is reflecting on how far he’s come since his health scare earlier this year — and what he saw during the experience.

The actor, 55, was honored with the Vanguard Award at the Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Cinema and Television: Honoring Black, Latino and AAPI Achievements for his performance in the legal drama The Burial on Monday. During his acceptance speech, Foxx took a moment to marvel over the fact that he was able to walk onstage without assistance.

"I couldn’t do that six months ago, I couldn’t actually walk to [the stage]. And I’m not a clone, I’m not a clone. I know a lot of people saying that I was cloned out there,” he joked, per the Hollywood Reporter. “It feels good to be here. I cherish every single minute now, it’s different.” 

Foxx, who was hospitalized for several weeks due to an undisclosed medical complication in April, said that the experience has irrevocably changed his life.

“I wouldn’t wish what I went though on my worst enemy because it’s tough when it’s almost over, when you see the tunnel,” he explained. “I saw the tunnel; I didn’t see the light. It was hot in that tunnel too, I don’t know where I was going. ‘S---, am I going to the right place?'”

It’s also shifted how the They Cloned Tyrone actor views his career moving forward, too. 

“I have a new respect for life, I have a new respect for my art. I watched so many movies and listened to so many songs trying to have the time go by. Don’t give up on your art, man, don’t give up on your art,” he said. “When you realize that it could be over like that… I got to tell you, don’t give up on your art and don’t let them take the art from you either.”

Foxx, who stayed out of the spotlight during his recovery, previously expressed just how grateful he was to finally be on the mend in an August Instagram post. "You're lookin at a man who is thankful… finally startin' to feel like myself… it's been an unexpected dark journey… but I can see the light," he wrote. "I'm thankful to everyone that reached out and sent well-wishes and prayers… I have a lot of people to thank… u just don't know how much it meant."

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