Toward the top of this John Powers profile of Morgan Freeman (published in part online and appearing in full in the June issue of Vogue), the actor drops an interesting bit of information I wasn’t aware of until now.  Most people were (as always) quick to call Clint Eastwood an Oscar hound for his choice of material this time around.  Obviously a film featuring a revered individual such as Nelson Mandela and covering the historic events of John Carlin’s book “Playing the Enemy” sets off the Oscar bait alarm, but it appears Eastwood didn’t exactly go searching for his next big awards season get:

Effortlessly dapper in a black jacket and a white polo shirt at breakfast in Beverly Hills, [Freeman] says that at this point in his storied career, “there aren’t many challenges in making movies.” Luckily, he’s about to embark on one of them—going to South Africa to produce and star in a big-budget Hollywood film about Nelson Mandela. “If you are playing a living figure who’s revered by the world, you’ve got yourself a major, major undertaking. You’ve got to do this without embarrassing yourself, your audience, and especially Madiba [Mandela's nickname]. Knowing that, you can be entirely too self-conscious. There are pitfalls, but I am going to be working with Clint.”

He’s referring, of course, to his good friend Clint Eastwood, who’s directing the film at Freeman’s request. “Morgan is just right for the role,” says the man who helmed Freeman’s Oscar-winning turn in Million Dollar Baby. “His stature in the acting world is like Mandela’s in his world.” (Eastwood’s confidence turns out to be well-founded. “Things are going fantastic here,” Freeman later tells me by phone from Johannesburg. “Everything has just fallen into place. The thing that’s surprised me is how easy it’s been to adapt to being Mandela.”)

Also, I have to say, “Invictus” is growing on me. Even though it’s totally wrong for the scope of the film and isn’t commercially appealing, I think it’s a very attractive title.  Strong.  Confident.  I dig it.

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