TORONTO - Hollywood heavyweight Jamie Foxx says he's taking Toronto actor-turned-rapper Drake under his wing to help ease his way through superstardom.

"I'm going to be watching that young man and helping him every step of the way because I think he can really be a superstar," the acclaimed singer-actor said Tuesday, in an interview before a concert in the city.

"I think for women out there, for the young girls coming up, he provides a little bit of integrity and so I applaud him."

That integrity, said Foxx, comes from the 22-year-old's roots as an actor on CTV's "Degrassi: The Next Generation."

"I think he sees the world in a different prism -- he sees it in a different dimension," explained Foxx, 41, who won a best-actor Oscar for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biopic "Ray."

"As a musician, sometimes it can be two-dimensional, but as an actor and a musician, it's three-dimensional because he knows what to say and how to move a person's emotions because he comes from that television background."

Drake, whose full name is Aubrey Drake Graham, has been storming the charts lately with his single, "Best I Ever Had," and plans to release his debut album, "Thank Me Later," by year's end.

This summer, he's been touring with Soulja Boy, Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne, whose record label he's signed to.

And next month, Drake is up for Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Drake has also collaborated with Foxx on a remix of his single, "Digital Girl," and performed it with him on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" in June.

Foxx said he's asked Drake to join him onstage at his Toronto concert Tuesday night in support of his third studio album, "Intuition." The show at the Sound Academy was Foxx's only scheduled Canadian stop on "The Blame It Tour."

Besides Drake, Foxx has also reached out to the "American Idol" contestants, appearing on the series last year to mentor them.

Now that "Idol" judge Paula Abdul has quit the show, it seems Foxx may not been so keen on returning.

"Oh that hurt me," the Texas-born talent said of Abdul's departure last week. "It hurt me because I like that chemistry. It's a different show without her."

Abdul, he added, brought a special "sensibility" to the show.

"Paula, she doesn't sound like a celebrity on the show, she sounds like just somebody regular. She had that compassion," Foxx explained. "I'll miss her."

Earlier Tuesday, Foxx appeared at a press conference to help launch the LG Life's Good FilmFest, which awards $100,000 to the best short film submitted by the public.

The actor-singer discussed the evolution of his career, from his start as a standup comedian and then a cast member of TV's "In Living Color," to his foray into film and finally music, his first love.

Foxx also told reporters he plans to dress in drag next January to reprise his role as Wanda from TV's "In Living Color" for a comedy film. Martin Lawrence will co-star as one of his well-known characters, Sheneneh.

He also said his 15-year-old daughter, Corinne, has shown an interest in filmmaking lately, and she's inspiring him.

If a biopic on late pop icon Michael Jackson is ever made, Foxx would "love to be a part of it behind the scenes," he also told The Canadian Press.

Foxx paid tribute to Jackson at the BET Awards in June, opening the show with a re-enactment of the choreography from the "Beat It" video and closing it by singing "I'll Be There" with Ne-Yo as Stevie Wonder played piano.

Foxx, who also hosted the event while wearing some of Jackson's signature looks, said it was "tough" hearing criticism from some about the show, which was put together just days after Jackson's death.

"We had 48 hours to do a show that would usually take six to eight months to put together," he said.

"So after the show was over, I released a couple of statements to ask people (for forgiveness) if some of the things they didn't like or didn't live up to some of the standards ... but a lot of people really enjoyed it."