Morgan Freeman gave one first-time director a really hard time: “I was really intimidated”
It’s hard to imagine a Hollywood landscape without Morgan Freeman.
Not only has the acting legend been in the public eye for over half a century, but he continues to crop up in huge, important, and successful films, standing as one of the few actors who has arguably become more famous as he’s gotten older, and long may his staggering devotion to his craft is nothing short of admirable.
In 2003, Freeman appeared in a film called Levity, centring on Billy Bob Thornton’Manuel Jordan, a man recently released from prison for a crime he committed over 20 years earlier, who embarks on a journey of redemption as he attempts to atone for his past mistakes, and Freeman plays Miles Evans, a clergyman who runs the boarding house in which Jordan is living.
Also starring Kirsten Dunst and Holly Hunter, Levity was directed by Ed Solomon, who, prior to this been an accomplished scriptwriter behind the likes of Men in Black, the Bill & Ted franchise, and, unfortunately, the live-action Super Mario Bros movie. This was his first time directing a movie, and, naturally, he was nervous about working with such an array of stars, and as he explained to SFGate, Freeman was the one who left him the most awestruck.
“I was really intimidated,” he recalled, “But part of the job was having to rise to the occasion. And the truth is, at first it was hard. It took me a little bit of time to get my sea legs”.
Solomon went on to explain that he tried to have an extensive conversation with Freeman about the character he was playing, for Miles Evans is described as “purposely mysterious”, with an undisclosed incident in his past that continues to haunt him. The director wanted to get to the bottom of Evans and lay out every single part of his backstory, but Freeman wasn’t having it, as rather than share ideas, the actor wanted to keep Evans’ development private.
On the surface, this might seem like an odd thing to say with a movie, which is a collaborative project that only happens if everybody works together; however, as Solomon quickly found out, sometimes it’s best to let the professionals do their job.
“You need to believe in the fact that you’ve cast this person, and then work with them, collaborate with them on that level,” he continued, “As a first-time director, it’s hard, because you haven’t had the experience to know where it’s OK to let things change and where it’s necessary to keep them.”
Unfortunately, Solomon seems to have misjudged these instincts, with Levity being a bit of a flop, failing to draw even three-quarters of a million dollars at the box office and was written off by critics as “heavy-handed” and “half-baked”. While the actors involved all bounced back, Solomon wasn’t so lucky, continuing to work in Hollywood as a writer, including on the Brendan Fraser comeback vehicle No Sudden Move, but he’s not directed another film since. Maybe Freeman was wrong on this one.
