The one actor Morgan Freeman always idolised: “Every time I see him I just marvel at him”
Having been around for so long and seemingly spending all that time as an old man, it’s hard to imagine a young and fresh-faced – or even weathered and dignified – Morgan Freeman idolising other actors he wanted to emulate.
Obviously, he did, and there were quite a few of them. Jose Ferrer was among the first, with Freeman so enamoured by the Academy Award-winning ‘Golden Age’ staple that he stumbled over his lines when they worked together on a play, only for Ferrer to inform his counterpart that he’d better get over his fandom awfully quickly so as not to ruin the production.
Sidney Poitier was another, which speaks for itself. In addition to his groundbreaking achievement in becoming the first Black actor to win the Oscar for ‘Best Actor’, the impact he made on the industry beyond the four corners of the silver screen helped pave the way for future generations.
Then there’s Jack Nicholson, who Freeman admired from afar for decades before they finally got the chance to work together on Rob Reiner’s The Bucket List. Even though they were both Oscar-winning elder statesmen and legends, the latter was still left starstruck.
Of course, no mention of Freeman’s inspirations is complete without Clint Eastwood, who he’d been a fan of since the 1970s, long before they became close friends, frequent collaborators, and awards season fixtures through Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, and Invictus. None of them was his ultimate idol, though, a status that belonged to Gene Hackman, who he and Eastwood worked with at the same time.
“I idolise movie actors, both sexes,” Freeman told The Guardian. “Hackman is one of those people. He’s a movie actor, boy he’s an actor and every time I go see him I just marvel at him. When I go to movies, not only am I being entertained, but I am also being trained as an actor because I am shameless in my thievery.”
In his defence, there are worse people to idolise and steal from. Hackman was among the ‘New Hollywood’ era’s definitive leading men despite hardly reflecting the idealised prototype of what a movie star should be. He looked like a regular guy, but it quickly became apparent that he was a cut above most of his contemporaries in terms of pure talent.
They also became fast friends following Unforgiven, reuniting almost a decade later for the 2000 thriller Under Suspicion. It wasn’t a patch on the first time they shared the screen, but Freeman wouldn’t have minded when the entire reason the project existed was an excuse for him and Hackman to pit their wits together again in a different genre.
Even when the Oscars paid tribute to Hackman following his passing, it was Freeman who took the stage to deliver a moving tribute.
