Morgan Freeman's Favorite Roles — From 'Shawshank Redemption' to 'Million Dollar Baby' and More!

Morgan Freeman wanted to be a fighter pilot and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after graduating high school. But he said, “sitting in the cockpit of a fighter trainer — I suddenly knew my dream was a romanticized version of war, made by movies. I really wanted to make movies about it.”

Here are Freeman’s ten favorite roles and what the actor says they mean to him.

Playing Easy Reader on the comedy variety show “terrified me," he said. "You get to be a profile on television, on children’s television or just daytime TV every day, every day, every day. If that show had kept going, I might still be there."

Playing pimp Fast Black “was about as far away from me as I can get, in terms of acting. It was more alien to who I really am," he said. It was a one-off. “If I’m good at something I don’t want to do that again.”

“It was an untold story that’s prevalent in the South: an old white woman and an old Black man who weren’t whole until they were together. But they wouldn’t bill it as a love story. They called it a comedy," he shared.

"When I was a kid, I was a cowboy. I had a cap pistol, and I’d get up in the morning and strap it on. Clint Eastwood may be my favorite director of all … and I have some that I like a lot!” he raved.

"About everywhere you go, people say, The Shawshank Redemption — greatest movie I ever saw.’ Just comes out of them," he said.

Freeman shed his dislike of playing the same character twice, portraying detective and forensic psychologist Alex Cross in the 2001 sequel as well. “I realized that my philosophical aversion was b-------. I liked Alex Cross. That’s a rare thing for a Black actor to find," he noted.

Fourth time was the Oscar charm. “It occurred to me that winning the nomination is probably the height of it. It’s about as far as you can reasonably go. But when they call your name, all that goes out the window!” he said.

Before playing the South African icon Nelson Mandela, Freeman “felt destined to do something about Mandela. When he published his autobiography, he was asked who he would want to play him. He named me. I was sort of the chosen one, as it were.”

Freeman played a retired spy but as far as acting, “I think this business retires you. I’m not quite sure I can say, ‘Well, yeah, I’m going to retire,’ because if your phone keeps ringing, you’re probably going to keep working," he said.

Hosting docuseries The Story of God and The Story of Us helped Freeman find himself, including which religion he’s most aligned with: Zoroastrianism. “It is a belief system that is intrinsically me: ‘Good thoughts, good words, good deeds’ pretty much sums it up," he said.