Clint Eastwood might’ve appeared in 14 films after “Unforgiven” but his Oscar-winning directorial effort really does feel like a fond farewell to the genre that defined his career in front of the camera. For many, his stint as Will Munny, a worn down gunman making one last stand, sits as one of his finest and he could’ve hung up his acting hat for good there and then in one of the best Western movies of all time. For his co-star, Morgan Freeman, though, there’s an earlier role rooted in Eastwood’s time in the Old West that outshines even that.
Speaking to Rotten Tomatoes in 2023, the five-time Oscar nominee (one of which he won for his performance in Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby”), was asked about his favorite films. Of his five truly fascinating choices, one of them was Eastwood’s own cold-blooded 1976 cowboy movie “The Outlaw Josey Wales.” The film saw Easwood play the titular character, a grizzled gunslinger who gets a bounty on his head and a target on his back. “I like all movies with Clint,” confessed Freeman to RT. “But ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’ is one I can’t pass up. If I’m scrolling through and I come across it, I’ve got to watch it.” It’s easy to imagine seasoned acting legend Morgan Freeman sitting down to see one of Eastwood’s greatest performances as Josey Wales and we can’t really blame him for it either. What might come as the bigger surprise are the other films that made his list of all-time favorites.
Morgan Freeman can can can always make time for Moulin Rouge
Besides Eastwood’s masterpiece, Freeman cited Fred Zinneman’s 1952 classic “High Noon” as another Western that also happened to be a personal favorite, along with the 1956 adaptation of “Moby Dick” from director John Huston. “I couldn’t have imagined it any different than it was when I saw it in my mind when I read the book,” Freeman explained when discussing the epic story of one man’s obsession with the illusive white whale. “It was all there. Gregory Peck was just awesome.”
Freeman’s remaining two preferred picks might be a shock. Firstly there was “Life of Pi” from Ang Lee, a director that the “Shawshank Redemption” actor described as “I think, probably one of the best directors in the business.” The other surprising dream choice from Freeman’s Blu-ray shelf was Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge!,” the Oscar-winning movie that reinvented the musical. (Mind you, this was selected by an actor who’s never done a proper musical, his days singing on “The Electric Company” in the ’70s aside.) “[‘Moulin Rouge!] is probably one of the best overall conceived and executed films,” Freeman explained. “It’s got the best everything. Cinematography, acting, singing, dancing. It’s just all there, really a feast for the eyes and the ears.”
So, the next time you get teary over Ewan McGregor singing “Your Song” to Nicole Kidman, know that Morgan Freeman is probably right there with you.