Freeman to be honoured at Globes
Iconic actor finds time to be a movie fan too
If there’s one person you want to talk movies with, it’s silver-screen legend Morgan Freeman.
So, when he suggests some mustsee flicks, it’s worth jotting down a few notes.
“I just saw Hanna. Have you seen that movie? The movie is so well-made. The music, the photography, the acting; it’s all great,” he says of the underrated Saoirse Ronan movie. “that director (joe wright), he did a fantastic job — fantastic! He did this amazing job, and it’s like, ‘I want to see what else he’s going to do!’ “
Such enthusiasm for an action film about a butt-kicking teen seems counter to the fatherly public image of Freeman, but a deep current of wisdom belies his fanboy gushing — which continues.
“And, have you seen Anonymous? Oh, don’t miss that one. Do. Not. Miss. Anonymous. Another well-made movie; very well-done,” he says of the William Shakespeare-inspired flick.
So, how does a man, who seemingly never stops working, find the time to watch so many movies? “The Academy sends them out and I get a chance to sit and watch them. Sometimes I do a marathon, and I’ll watch three movies in one day.”
On Sunday, the movies in his prolific body of work will be the topic of conversation when he’s presented the Cecil B. Demille Lifetime Achievement Award at the Golden Globe Awards (NBC, CTV, 5 p.m. PT).
“I’m getting a lot of end-of-the-career awards, that lifetime achievement stuff. I’m beginning to feel like I’m being told, ‘OK, time to hang up your cleats and sit down.’ Once you start getting them, it’s like, ‘What do you — what?! What is this “lifetime achievement”? Have I done it already? There’s no more achieving for you?’ You just ask, you know. You have to get up when they give these things to you and say, ‘Now, wait a minute; I don’t consider myself done yet.’ ” Not by a long shot. There aren’t many 74-year-olds with a slew of movies lined up, including the highly anticipated conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise, The Dark Knight Rises. But, don’t expect Freeman to reveal any details about the super-secretive production, due this summer.
“If I tell you anything, I’d have to find you and kill you,” he says with only a hint of a smile in his voice. “Listen, when I got the script — I live in Mississippi — and that script was hand-delivered. Hand-delivered.”
He does concede that the film will be a crowd-pleaser. “It’s got surprises. It makes you sit up and take notice.”
Never one to sit still for long, Freeman popped up in Los Angeles Wednesday to accept the favourite movie icon award at the People’s Choice Awards, and also this week started filming the third season of his Science Channel series Through the Wormhole, which explores space and the universe.
“I cried when we stepped on the moon,” he says, adding that he always has been fascinated with the unknown. “Since the world is flat, we’ve been looking for what’s on the other side of the horizon; no reason to stop now.”