The role Morgan Freeman hated playing that he still reprised: “I do have opinions about things”
Common sense would indicate that if an actor has a particularly miserable time playing a certain role or working with a certain director, they’ll make a point of not replicating the experience, only for Morgan Freeman to do the exact opposite and return for a movie that marked a significant turning point in his career.
If anyone were to ask the Academy Award winner what drives his decision-making, the chances are high that they’ll get the most honest answer: money. Unlike many of his peers, Freeman has habitually told anyone who’ll listen that the number one reason he boarded a project was to beef up his bank balance.
Admittedly, it’s not ideal when he does it before the film has even been released, but he can’t be faulted for his honesty. He probably wouldn’t have said it at the beginning of his career, but once he became a star and Hollywood’s most in-demand dispenser of wizened exposition nuggets, he clearly felt comfortable enough in his position to shoot from the hip.
Sometimes, though, he’s only spoken up with the benefit of hindsight. At the time, Freeman probably thought he’d have a great time playing James Patterson’s most famous literary creation, Alex Cross, in 1997’s Kiss the Girls, but he’d changed his tune a few years later.
When asked during an interview with the British Film Institute if he enjoyed making the psychological crime thriller, Freeman cut straight through the bullshit: “I didn’t really.” It was director Gary Fleder’s second feature after the Quentin Tarantino knockoff Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, and it sounds like he didn’t have enough backbone for the star’s liking.
“I like working with directors because I’m really opinionated, as you might, or might not have gathered by now,” he explained. “About what things work and may not work, what audiences like and may not like, but I do have opinions about things. I like to be able to say them and then have them acted on. The director who responds to me like that always gets my appreciation. I do appreciate it.”
Freeman backhandedly referred to Fleder as a “young man,” albeit one who “has a real flair for making movies.” However, it sounds like he didn’t give the veteran what he wanted from a filmmaker, leaving him disappointed with the result. Still, he didn’t turn it down when the opportunity to make a sequel arose.
In fact, Along Came a Spider was the first sequel Freeman had ever made, which required him to overcome his “philosophical aversion” to playing the same character twice. Millions of dollars presumably helped to influence his decision, and maybe it’s telling that Fleder was replaced by Lee Tamahori behind the camera, especially when his involvement was upgraded from actor-for-hire to star and executive producer.
