The only director who brought Morgan Freeman as “close to heaven” as it gets
The relationship between a director and their cast is a precious thing, although complex.
It’s not even simple enough to say that if a director treats their cast well, they’ll reap good rewards. But in Morgan Freeman’s experience, there is a sweet spot that is nothing short of heavenly.
In most places, the working line would be that if you’re good to one another, you get good results. That’s typically the way the world works, as a bit of kindness and nicety can get you far, and usually a lot further than being cruel; however, that doesn’t seem to be the case in the world of art.
For an example of that, look towards Stanley Kubrick, who got masterpiece performances from his cast while being outright evil towards some of them. Shelley Duvall’s experience was nothing short of torture on the set of The Shining as Kubrick got her doing “primal scream therapy”, filming her most distressing scenes on repeat and then refusing to ever comfort or compliment her, instead just pushing her for more.
Even worse than that might be the treatment of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise for Eyes Wide Shut, where Kubrick basically exploded their marriage for the movie. In his eyes, kind treatment clearly got you nowhere. However, Morgan Freeman never worked with Kubrick, and his feelings on what makes a good director are likely the reason. It’s clear that anything overbearing or unkind wouldn’t fly with him, as when he recounts his all-time favourite experience on set, it’s all rooted in freedom and trust.
It all comes back to one man, Clint Eastwood, and, for Freeman, it was almost tough to vocalise how great the experience of working with the Hollywood veteran was, saying, “Hard to explain because you’re not directed by Clint Eastwood”.
For Eastwood, who had vast experience in front of the camera before pivoting to the director’s chair, he can understand completely what an actor would want and need. He knows that an overbearing, smothering director isn’t what an artist needs to do their best work, and Freeman loved being trusted to simply run free in his craft. “If you’re lucky enough to get a job with him, you’re allowed to work,” the actor said, “He didn’t hire you to say, ‘OK, now this is what I want you to do’. He hires you, and you’ve read the script, and if you think you can do it, and then you’re left alone to do it.”
In short, Eastwood offered his cast freedom, letting them get on with it, offering feedback when necessary, but mostly, he just trusted that the cast he’d handpicked could carry the roles, believing in their abilities, and obviously, that’s going to make the performers feel good.
Freeman had an especially unique experience, as when they worked together on Unforgiven, he wasn’t just being directed by Eastwood and experiencing that trusting directing style, but he was also starring alongside the legend, getting to see his greatness in both roles. In fact, he said, “For me, that’s very close to heaven as you can get”.
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