What was the first movie with Morgan Freeman as narrator?
For years, Morgan Freeman has been known for his iconic deep voice, resulting in many filmmakers choosing him to narrate their films or documentaries. Of course, Freeman is more than just the owner of a good cinematic voice; he has acted in many acclaimed movies and even won an Oscar for his performance in Million Dollar Baby.
The actor was born back in 1937 and began acting in the 1960s, although it took him several decades to find proper success. Freeman appeared in a few theatre productions during this time while starring in some uncredited movie roles, such as Sidney Lumet’s The Pawnbroker and A Man Called Adam, starring Sammy Davis Jr. When the ‘70s rolled around, he started to earn slightly more prominent film jobs, as well as landing a main role in the children’s series The Electric Company.
It wasn’t until the late ‘80s that he started to be recognised for his talents, proving that being a successful actor doesn’t always come instantly. He starred in Glory and Driving Miss Daisy during this time, securing an Oscar nomination for his role in the latter. He had already performed his character on an Off-Broadway production of the project, so he didn’t struggle to adapt to playing his part on the big screen.
Freeman then began working with more prominent directors, like Brian De Palma for The Bonfire of the Vanities and Clint Eastwood for Unforgiven. The actor quickly gained recognition for his unmistakable screen presence and iconic voice, and soon enough, he landed his career-defining role as Red in The Shawshank Redemption.
He narrated the film, something that helped him become widely known, and since then, people have dubbed him as the owner of one of Hollywood’s most recognisable voices. He has narrated various movies, television shows, and documentaries over the course of his impressive career.
But what was the first movie narrated by Morgan Freeman?
While Freeman has narrated various documentaries and television shows throughout his career, the first movie he narrated was 1994’s The Shawshank Redemption. The hit film, which saw Freeman play a prisoner alongside Tim Robbins’ Andy, failed to win any Oscars, but it is now regarded as one of the most popular movies of the 1990s.
Freeman’s character was written in Stephen King’s novella as a white Irish man with ginger hair, but director Frank Darabont was set on Freeman due to his deep voice. Thus, Freeman secured the role and it helped to further launch his career as a Hollywood icon, particularly opening up the door for him to become an in-demand narrator.
After The Shawshank Redemption, Freeman lent his voice to several segments of Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories in 1994. He also narrated a series of documentaries, starting with Cosmic Voyage, followed by The Long Way Home. Freeman has narrated various feature films as he did with Shawshank, although most have failed to reach the same levels of success. For example, while he narrated the well-received Steven Spielberg film War of the Worlds, he followed that up with Mike Myers’ poorly reviewed The Love Guru.
Other narration credits of Freeman’s include 2011’s Conan the Barbarian, The Mona Lisa Myth, The Story of God with Morgan Freeman, and most recently, the nature documentary Life on Our Planet.
