'He's doing what I wanted to': Morgan Freeman REVEALS why he is 'envious' of Denzel Washington's career
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: Morgan Freeman is one of the greatest actors of all time and his credentials are a testament to his success. Over the years, Freeman has enthralled audiences with epic characters and given several award-worthy performances. Even after doing so much work in the entertainment industry, the actor feels that there’s one person who has made the most of his career and is “envious” of how he has managed to take his career forward. And that guy is none other than Denzel Washington.
If Freeman is considered to be a living legend, then Washington is also one of the industry’s icons. The ‘Tragedy of Macbeth’ star, who will be next seen in 'The Equalizer 3', began his acting career in 1977 with a TV series named titled ‘The Wilma Rudolph Story’. However, it didn’t take much time to impact people’s minds with his acting, and delivered a stellar performance in ‘Malcolm X’. As his career moved forward, he didn’t leave any stone unturned to do projects in several genres, including action. That’s one of the reasons why Freeman feels “envious” of Washington’s career because he could do roles that he wanted to and received no push-backs from the industry.
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Freeman is envious of Washington's career because of this reason
In a candid interview given to The Sunday Times, the 85-year-old superstar noted that he is “so very envious of Denzel’s career because he’s doing what he wanted to.”
These comments come after the interviewer stated that he had spoken to Washington recently and the actor told him that he was in the “autumn of his life” and remains really ambitious with the projects he wants to be a part of. He also noted that he called up filmmakers such as Steve McQueen and Paul Thomas Anderson to talk about work and maybe do something together.
Of course, there’s a lot of difference between Freeman’s career and Washington’s career. The eras were different, the films were different, and most importantly, the policies were different as well. Freeman made his feature film debut in 1964 with a cameo in the movie ‘Pawnbreaker’. In fact, his first three roles were cameos, and he received his first significant acting role in a movie in 1971. Despite being cast in a movie in 1971, he made more money and garnered more fame on TV. The actor starred in the PBS children’s Television show ‘The Electric Company’, making him a household name
Freeman has been working for more than five decades
He continued to work in movies and TV shows side-by-side and started to lay a strong foundation for his career. But he was still not getting the roles he wanted because of a policy named ‘Hays Code’. The Hays Code was a set of rules and guidelines that Hollywood films were made to follow between the early 1930s and late 1960s. This policy was adopted by the industry so that “movies were safe for the public” and did not cover any controversial themes. As a result, even amazing Black actors didn’t get the roles that they wanted and unfortunately, Freeman was one of them.
Freeman had to wait for a long time to get more ambitious and more meaningful roles. He went on to be a part of movies such as ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ (1989) and ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994) which made him a global star. Since then, he hasn’t looked back and garnered extraordinary roles. On the other hand, Washington was able to receive roles that were more challenging and more ambitious.
Both actors have worked together in two movies and garnered a beautiful relationship over the years and even though Freeman said that he is “envious” of Washington’s career, he is really proud of how Washington’s career has progressed.