The one movie Morgan Freeman thought “sucked deeply” but still agreed to work with its director
Few actors possess such a recognisable voice as Morgan Freeman, who has utilised it to great success in many acclaimed performances. After honing his acting skills on stage, he began appearing in movies during the 1970s, although it wouldn’t be until the late 1980s that Freeman would rise to prominence.
It didn’t take the actor long to be recognised for his talents. He appeared in Driving Miss Daisy in 1989, which earned him a nomination for ‘Best Actor’ at the Oscars. While he didn’t win, Freeman quickly went on to star in more high-profile roles, such as Clint Eastwood’s Forgiven and Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption.
These performances would help to cement his position as perhaps the most accomplished actor of his generation. As comfortable on the board as he is under the studio lights, able to deliver comedy and tragedy, fight crime and commit it, Freeman is a powerhouse performer.
Freeman’s performance in The Shawshank Redemption remains his most iconic, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t found themselves in tears after watching him as Red. Since then, he’s found further success in movies like Se7en, Million Dollar Baby and The Dark Knight trilogy, remaining one of Hollywood’s most beloved faces.
In 2000, he starred in an underrated black comedy, Nurse Betty, in which Renée Zelwegger appears as a woman who suffers a nervous breakdown after witnessing her husband’s traumatic murder. As a result, she begins to embody a character from her favourite television show and obsesses over one of the actors. Meanwhile, Freeman and Chris Rock’s hitmen characters track her down upon realising she was a witness to the grisly murder.
Directed by Neil LaBute, the movie reflects Freeman’s ability to master seemingly any genre, proving to be equally capable of comedy as he is in drama and thrillers. Yet, when he first received the script for Nurse Betty, Freeman had mixed feelings about LaBute’s previous films.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Freeman explained that he “saw Neil LaBute’s first movie, In the Company of Men, and I thought it sucked deeply. I mean, talk about a couple of scuzzy guys. Man, they were turds.” The film was actually positively received by critics, and it picked up various accolades, such as Independent Spirit Awards and Sundance Film Festival awards. Still, Freeman wasn’t a fan, but he was fascinated with LaBute regardless, adding, “I was intrigued by the mind that would think this up and film it.”
Thus, he watched his other movie, Your Friends & Neighbors, but he also disliked it. “Not any better, but still intriguing. That scene with Jason Patric in the steam room — I’ve never seen him do such good work,” he said. You would think that after watching two of the director’s films and hating them, the actor wouldn’t be inclined to work with him – but Freeman is a man of many surprises.
“I got the script for Nurse Betty, and I loved it and I went and met him. And it turns out he’s married, has these lovely kids. He’s just this big bear of a man. Cuddly, even. It didn’t take any persuading to convince me to do the film,” Freeman revealed. Apparently, all it takes to get Freeman in your film is a nice family and a bit of extra body fat.
So, even though he thought that In The Company of Men was a terrible movie, he could still sense LaBute’s unique sense of creativity, and the pair ended up working brilliantly together on Nurse Betty.
It speaks to Freeman’s ability to see through the mire and deliver a great performance that he would avoid being trapped by his reviews of the first movies he saw and decide to work with the director and make magic.
