[Originally posted June 30, 2006 at MySpace]
Seriously. I love that man. I think of him as My African-American Dad*, not only because his voice sounds a lot like my dear departed father's voice, full of rich Southern baritone, but because he just seems like he'd be a great father figure. (Of course he could be, y'know, acting, but even if that were the case and he wouldn't make a good surrogate dad for me, what a great actor!)
Last night, I watched a rather puffy documentary on HBO about what makes a film a box office success or not (let me save you an hour and a half: nobody knows for sure and it's always a gamble). Freeman was going over the unlikely hits he'd been involved with and delivered this flawless line: "Penguins? Penguins? Penguins?" The rising incredulity with which he delivered each "penguins" made me laugh out loud.
Later in the doc, he was interviewed about Bonfire of the Vanities, one of those films that seemed like it would be a surefire hit but wasn't. Bless his heart, the man looked like he was going through root canal as he tried to be diplomatic about what was obviously a profoundly jacked-up set. His face, voice and bearing telegraphed "please don't make me talk about this" as he said as little as possible about making the film.
(Memo to self: find The Devil's Candy at the library or for sale; it details the filming of Bonfire. If Morgan Freeman can't find one good thing to say about making a film, that had to be horrible -- and hence, good reading.)
* Sir Ian McKellen is My Gay Dad. Again, the voice, plus the great dad-like qualities he portrayed when Gandalf interacted with the Hobbits. (Quiet, you.) Of course, other performances of McKellen's indicate that he'd let you know in no uncertain terms if you ever disappointed him, so I'd have to be on my toes more than if Freeman adopted me. And yes, I realize that both of these scenarios make me sound mentally ill.
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