The actor Morgan Freeman loved so much it made it tough to work with them: “It was difficult for him too”
It’s a competitive industry by its very nature, but the world of cinema often gives rise to long-lasting friendships and deep-seated mutual respect, something Morgan Freeman has experienced from both sides of the spectrum as he settled into his groove as a living legend.
The actor holds Clint Eastwood in the highest esteem as both a friend and collaborator, with their partnerships on Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, and Invictus standing out as three of the most treasured moments of his entire career.
Similarly, after first crossing paths on Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, he’d go on to make another five movies alongside Michael Caine, with the two icons becoming increasingly close. Among the other titans he’s shared the screen with over the years are Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and Dustin Hoffman, to name but three, although another of his legendary co-stars didn’t pose any problems thanks to a formative moment.
Almost a decade after Eastwood’s Unforgiven, Freeman was reunited with Gene Hackman on 2000’s thriller Under Suspicion, which starred the former as a veteran police captain who butts heads with the latter’s attorney in a psychological battle of wits unfolding in the midst of a murder investigation.
Both Academy Award winners served as producers on the film, but as Freeman explained to the BBC, Hackman had been trying to make the movie for a lot longer than he had. “Gene and I said when we were doing Unforgiven that we must find a project together,” he offered. “He had this project with him, which he’d been carting around for 12 years. I told him, ‘Let’s do it.'”
Under Suspicion itself is surprisingly unremarkable given the talent involved, but it was easy for Freeman and Hackman to put their mutual appreciation of each other to one side. “Working with Gene was wonderful,” he continued. “I didn’t find it too hard working with an icon I so respected.”
The reason for this was that when Freeman shared the stage with his idol José Ferrer during his time treading the boards in the 1970s, he “learned how to deal with that”. An Oscar-winning trailblazer in his own right and the uncle of George Clooney, for the aspiring thespian, it was “the first chance I had to work with someone I really venerated.” Not only that, but “it was difficult for him too”, with Ferrer simply telling his admirer to “get over it” and do his job.
Having been up close and personal with his acting hero before he’d even made it big, Freeman was well-prepared to encounter the best and brightest talents Tinseltown had to offer, making Eastwood and Hackman a breeze by comparison. He’d come face-to-face with his inspiration long before he made his breakthrough, which left him immune to becoming overawed.
