Actor Morgan Freeman is best known for his role as Red in The Shawshank Redemption. However, he has also played a variety of roles that have become a staple in pop culture, such as Lucius Fox in The Dark Knight trilogy, Nelson Mandela in Invictus, and Hoke Colburn in Driving Miss Daisy.
While he finally won the Oscar for Million Dollar Baby, Freeman named his first-ever Oscar-nominated role as Fast Black in Street Smart as his favorite. Freeman reportedly called the Christopher Reeve starrer his breakout role. Despite it being his favorite performance, Freeman admitted that he would never do something like that again.
Morgan Freeman Called His Role In Street Smart His Best
Morgan Freeman has played everything from a boxing coach, a scientist, and a prisoner, to God himself. Known for his deep, narrative voice, Freeman became a pop cultural icon for his incredible performances in films like The Shawshank Redemption and Million Dollar Baby. The latter even won him an Oscar.
Despite a long list of award-worthy performances (which he has been nominated for), Freeman chose a lesser-known, early role of his as his favorite. Freeman’s role in Street Smart brought him his first Oscar nomination. Working opposite Superman star Christopher Reeve, the Lucy star played a pimp named Fast Black.
In an interview with HitFix, Freeman detailed why he loved the part so much. He said,
I went as about as far away from me as I could get in terms of acting. Everything else — you know — you pull something out of you. Not that I wasn’t pulling stuff out of me in terms of my actions with the ladies, but to me, it was more alien to who I really am.
While Freeman has been nominated for the Oscar five times, his first seems to be the most special to him. He also called it his breakout role despite being in the TV show The Electric Company.
Morgan Freeman Refused To Do A Character Like Fast Black In Street Smart
Morgan Freeman’s role in Street Smart is probably his most vicious and villainous part. The actor’s filmography is filled with characters who have integrity or a morally high philosophy about them. However, in the Christopher Reeve starrer, Freeman played a pimp with murky morals, something which he has done with such intensity since.
Freeman mentioned in an interview that despite being offered such roles, he chose not to do them and rejected the parts (via Flashback Files). He said that he wanted to avoid being typecast after the role’s success and popularity.
I refused. As soon as you come out with something like that you get a lot of offers to play that same role again in other films. I didn’t wanna be [typecast]… If I’m good at something I don’t want to do that again, I want to do something else.
The Bruce Almighty star mentioned that though he played some roles on stage multiple times, he still wanted to do something new every time.
Street Smart is available to stream on Apple TV+.
