Jamie Foxx gave Ed Sheeran and Nick Cannon a helping hand early on in their careers by allowing them to sleep on his couch.

The Ray star is adamant about supporting struggling artists and has no issue opening his home to them when they need a place to stay.

"I had Ed Sheeran sleep on my couch for six weeks," he tells Entertainment Tonight. "Before he made it, he came to my crib. So did Anthony Hamilton, Nick Cannon, all these (people). You gotta press anybody that's got that artistic feel, that touch, you've got to lift them up."

Jamie also grew close to his Baby Driver co-star Ansel Elgort , and the 23-year-old praises Foxx for making him feel comfortable on the set of their movie.

"He really spreads the love, and he's so supportive of everything," Elgort says. "As a young actor walking onto this set - and this goes for Jon (Bernthal) as well - I was so excited to do this movie, but I didn't expect any kind of relationship with these guys, where they would be so supportive. (But) they've become mentors."

Foxx, who is also a singer, took a keen interest in Ansel's music, too.

"He invited me to his house and said, 'Come to the studio, I want to hear your music'," the youngster adds. "He's been so supportive through everything and it's just awesome because it made this process so much more fun."

Jamie recently opened up about his own experience with a celebrity who stepped in to help when he was going astray in his own career, revealing Oprah Winfrey made a point to warn him he was "blowing it".

"(She said), 'All of this gallivanting... that's not what you want to do... I want to take you somewhere, make you understand the significance of what you're doing'," he told shock jock Howard Stern.

Winfrey then organized a meeting for Foxx at musician Quincy Jones' home, and invited several legendary African-American celebrities to help her help him.