“I’ve never mentioned this to Clint, and I should”: the one role Morgan Freeman always wanted to play
Superstar actors who accrue a certain amount of clout within the industry have a habit of getting their passion projects made come hell or high water, but Morgan Freeman never got to realise his ambition of playing the one character he’d always dreamed of bringing to life.
Of course, it’s not as easy as waltzing into the boardroom at a major studio and demanding it happens, but Freeman did establish his own production company to oversee the development and creation of many films in which he also starred.
Revelations Entertainment was founded in 1996 and is still going strong today, so he was in a position to build it himself from the ground up were the opportunity to present itself. There’s also the fact he’s an enduring and beloved icon of cinema with an Academy Award under his belt from five nominations and a track record of lending his name to hard-hitting dramas and box office-busting hits alike, which often helps.
And yet, even though his dream role would have been biographical in nature to negate the need for any legal, contractual, or rights-holding red tape, the opportunity has passed him by. For one thing, the character passed away at 71 years old, and Freeman is fast catching up on 90, so he’s hardly as equipped as he used to be for what would have been an action-packed and exciting story.
“There is one character I’ve always very much wanted to play,” he told IGN. “Bass Reeves. He was a cowboy, a Black lawman in the Old West. He’s an ex-slave who established himself as a great man of justice in the west. There is a script out there for him, and I would love to see it made.”
A legendary figure in the history of American law enforcement, it would be an understatement to say that deputy marshal, agent of the railroad, runaway slave, farmer, scout, tracker, and multilinguist Reeves was a man of many talents. He apprehended thousands of criminals and killed dozens when they wouldn’t come peacefully, and while he’s appeared on-screen many times, Freeman never got his shot.
Of course, Freeman is very good friends with someone who knows a thing or two about the western genre and also happens to be a top-tier director, which wasn’t lost on him. “Believe it or not, I’ve never mentioned this to Clint,” he said of his Unforgiven boss. “I haven’t done that yet, and I should.”
Freeman playing his dream part in a western helmed by Eastwood would be a mouth-watering prospect, but it wasn’t to be. Not that he’s given up entirely, with his Revelations banner announced to be backing Reeves’ series Twin Territories for Amazon in June 2022, even if it still hasn’t come close to entering production as of yet.
