“It was amazing”: the man behind the legend of Morgan Freeman’s unmistakable voice
Having a recognisable trait can be both a blessing and a curse for an actor, like for Eddie Murphy, who was blessed with an iconic laugh, which was made famous in Beverly Hills Cop, but once he found that people expected to hear his laugh every time he opened his mouth, he made a conscious effort to get rid of it.
But when you have an iconic trait that you can milk for whatever it’s worth, you might find yourself landing loads of jobs because of it, like Morgan Freeman and that unmistakable voice. It’s one of Hollywood’s most recognisable, deep, plush baritones, and he has truly stretched it to its full potential. Narrating documentaries and films, Freeman’s distinctive voice has saved him from stepping in front of the camera many a time, which he’s surely grateful for, saving him from hours of makeup, hair, and costume.
He narrated the Oscar-winning documentary March of the Penguins, while also lending his voice to narrative films like Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds and Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby, so clearly, he’s a go-to star for filmmakers who need a strong, recognisable voice, although Freeman wasn’t exactly born with such an incredible one.
Rather, he had to work at it, and over time, it developed into the unforgettable voice we know and love today. “I attribute the Morgan Freeman voice to one man who I took voice training from when I was in college for about 20 minutes: Robert Whitten,” he once told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“When you went into his class, he had you make a little record. You’d go in and read off this paper. And at the end of the class, you go into the studio, and you read off that same paper, and you can compare the difference in what you started out with and what you ended up with,” Freeman explained.
So, by carefully working on his pronunciation skills, Freeman’s voice evolved, as he noted, “It was amazing, because your voice is going to drop half an octave at least, and your diction increased to the point where you’re sounding all your consonants, final Ds and Ts.”
Since Freeman rose to prominence as an actor, his voice has become one of the most beloved in Hollywood, and scientific studies have even been carried out to identify just why his voice in particular is so coveted. The findings show that it’s the deep masculine energy of his voice that many of us associate with security and authority, and paired with the fact that the actor often plays the kinds of characters it’s easy to like and trust, it’s no surprise that we love hearing his voice, finding it a comfort despite him being a stranger to us.
More recently, as technology has continued to evolve, Freeman has condemned the use of AI to replicate his voice. Taking to X in 2024, he thanked fans for calling out unauthorised uses of AI imitations of his voice, writing, “Your dedication helps authenticity and integrity remain paramount”. With such a desirable asset, it’s no surprise that people want to copy it via unethical means.
Freeman will always rise above such cheap ploys to profit off his signature talent, though, because it’s taken him this far, and he’s not going to let anyone steal his thunder.
