Mr. MORGAN FREEMAN

Interviewed on September 23, 2011

Morgan Freeman as Dr. Cameron McCarthy in DOLPHIN TALE

I recently had an opportunity to sit down with Morgan Freeman and chat about his new movie Dolphin Tale in which he plays a prosthesis designer Dr. Cameron McCarthy. Most of you know Morgan and the nearly 100 films that embody his career.  I can easily mention a number of big box office hits including his recent role as Nelson Mandela in Invictus for which he received an Oscar nomination.  He’s an Academy Award recipient for his work in Million Dollar Baby.

Your character in Dolphin Tale is Dr. Cameron McCarthy the person who made the prosthesis for Winter the dolphin who had his tail amputated.  Is McCarthy based on an actual real person?

“This whole story is based on a true incident.  My character is kind of based on the real guy in other words he did it but I don’t look like him, sound like him, feel like him, there is nothing between us that matches.  But my character is based on the real guy. I met him, but I took character traits right off the script. I wasn’t necessarily playing a real person, just the fact that a real person actually did this.”

What is the joy of acting in a movie where you are going to be upstaged by a dolphin?

“I think the joy of doing anything is getting paid. Good enough answer right?”

What was your reason for taking this role in Dolphin Tale?

“Well I thought it was a good story. It is really good family fare. No crashes, no chases, no sex just a good story that is very kid friendly.  I like the idea as I have young grandchildren and great grandchildren. So the idea of them being able to go and see something like Dolphin Tale and get a little bit of a boost in some of the values that are out there to learn in life, that’s a good reason to be involved.”

So what was it like working in Florida on this film?

“You are asking the wrong person and I’m going to tell you why.  I don’t do anything. I go to work, I get up in the morning, I go to the set, and in the evening I go back to the hotel.  I would generally find a nice restaurant and go and eat and then go home. I don’t sight see and I don’t tour around. Primarily because it’s a little difficult to move around I’m kind of high profile. People come chasing you with cameras and stuff so I can’t even go to the museums, not even in LA or New York.”

Your character made the apparatus to help the dolphin. Can you give your feelings on how the dolphin is inspirational to disabled veterans and children for instance?

“I think my character’s whole challenge was not seeing how this dolphin was inspirational, but he was inspired to get the job done. This was like a challenge. These inventors are people who create ways for people to function. I now a guy his name is Dean Kamen and he’s an inventor. And he’s worked on a prosthesis for the arm that fits you if you are amputated above your elbow. And it can make you useful. It’s just a challenge for these guys of solving a problem and it becomes his problem. You wake up in the middle of the night and you have an idea, he gets up and that’s paramount”.

What was it like working with director Charles Martin Smith on Dolphin Tale?

“This was my first time working with Charles and he was terrific. You always have fun with the director who knows what he is doing, what he wants, has big ears (meaning he can listen) and a sort of a stand away attitude. I don’t much like being directed”.

You are nearing the hundredth film and TV productions in your career. What’s the impetus to keep going in acting since you have already accomplished a great feat?

“You know you’ve asked a loaded question.  What is the impetus to get out of bed in the morning? Those two things are tied together. I’m not dead and until then I expect to work. If I can get out of bed I am going to go to work”.

So you have been very busy filming The Dark Knight Rises and Summer At Dog Daves.  Is this a usual work schedule for you?

“I have been a little busy yes. It happens in spurts like that. Months and months you don’t do anything and then all of a sudden you don’t have time to turn around. Not having anything to do is not my choice, but when it gets busy then it’s my choice”.

What is the weirdest encounter you have had with a fan?

“I remember once in Ireland I was going back to the hotel from a pub and I heard this chop chop chop chop running behind me and someone through their arms around me from behind. It scared the daylights out of me. And it was this young woman.  She was saying Morgan Freeman; and this was in Ireland in 1996. Goodness child you scared the daylights out of me. She was saying I just love you, I just love you, I just love you. Morgan asked the fan: How old are you?”

Do you think fans just do it to get a photo or shake your hand or get an autograph?

“That seems to be it. I used to think it was simply because of my good looks.”

Are fans generally well behaved?

“They are well behaved.  Going across the lobby of a hotel is sort of a gauntlet sometimes because everybody has a cell phone with a camera and they want pictures. So you have to say, ‘no don’t take pictures’, and then you have to explain why you don’t want them to take pictures because the minute you stop anywhere and someone points a camera at you that is were you are going to be because now everybody is there saying ‘take my picture, come on take my picture’.”

Did you always want to be as famous as you are right now?

“I couldn’t wait till the time I would get out of a limousine with all the cameras flashing and that’s great, but the camera wants to keep going.  When you start this process of becoming an actor its all you want. Once you get there, you are there. (Is it once you are there you don’t want it?) It’s not that you don’t want it.  It’s like you want to sit down and eat a good meal, how many times can you do it? (Every night.) No you can’t, not that meal.  You can eat a good meal but it has to be different. Know what I am saying? You can’t eat ice cream all day.

ABOUT DOLPHIN TALE

Alcon Entertainment’s, Dolphin Tale, is inspired by the amazing true story of a brave dolphin called Winter and the compassionate people who banded together to save her life. Swimming free, a young dolphin is caught in a crab trap, severely damaging her tail. She is rescued and transported to the Clearwater Marine Hospital, where she gets the name Winter. But her fight for survival has just begun. Losing her tail may cost Winter her life. It will take the expertise of a dedicated marine biologist, the ingenuity of a brilliant prosthetics doctor, and the unwavering devotion of a young boy to bring about a groundbreaking miracle—a miracle that might not only save Winter but could also help thousands of people around the world.

DOLPHIN TALE  is now in theaters everywhere.