Just a lifetime of acting

Things have changed quite a bit since Morgan Freeman was in Dubai at last year's festival.

To start with, he's won his first Oscar, "and," he says, "I've got myself a jet licence."

Despite his piloting skills, the actor who's also keen on planes preferred to travel Emirates.

In a casual chat with Tabloid, Freeman makes it clear that he's an actor first and always.

With his priorities all sorted out, the actor talks about life in the last year, acting and what it takes to get Freeman to say 'yes' to a film.

Your Oscar was for Million Dollar Baby, but fans and critics both think you should have won for Driving Miss Daisy and The Shawshank Redemption. What do you say?

Fine (laughs)

Did you expect that Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Freeman's character in Million Dollar Baby) would win you that first Oscar?

No. never. Since The Shawshank Redemption nomination I've never expected to win.

You did for Shawshank?

Yeah. I kind of expected for Driving Miss Daisy. I mean we won all the others so I kind of thought it would ?

What's it like sitting in the audience as a nominee, waiting for the envelope to be ripped open and the winner's name announced?

It's different each time. Sometimes, depending on who's in the running, you know it's not just going to be your day. Other times you think, well, this one's a walkover.

What's the deal with the Nelson Mandela movie project? There are so many rumours about that film ...

Yeah and there have been for years. The Mandela project is bogged down by the script. We don't have one. And there are other things that need to be worked out. We're still working on those. But it's still in the works.

So if gets made, is it certain that you're playing Mandela?

You can't guarantee that until we all sign on the dotted line.

What is it about Dubai that brought you back?

The problem is that I haven't had a chance to see a lot, but I like it here. It's nice. Very relaxed and I enjoy myself.

Do you see yourself buying a house here?

Nope. It's too far away from home.

What does it take Morgan Freeman to say yes to a movie?

A good script.

So a big name backing it doesn't necessarily mean much?

A script is usually enough. And the people behind a good script are automatically good to work with. Normally. Sometimes you get a good script but you're left with no clue about how it will turn out.

Is there any film you've regretted working on?

No. Not at all. If things didn't come out well, then they didn't come out well. But I was paid well, I'm sure (laughs).

Why didn't you ever pursue your role as a director, despite Bopha!'s critical success?

Because I'm just lazy. Directing uses up a year of your life. It doesn't pay nearly as well as acting does. And I'm better at acting.

But Bopha! was a pretty good film ...

Thank you very much. And to tell you the truth, I really enjoyed the whole process and experience of the actual making of the film.

Working with the actors and production and going on set. But after that, I found myself not terribly interested in the post-production part, the editing, you know.

If I don't have a lot of say in it then I don't want to do it.

But, as an actor, do you have a lot of say in it? Do you submit to the director or do you give in a lot of input of how you perceive a role?

Depends on the director. Sometimes I submit completely and sometimes I fight like the devil.

Who'd you "fight like the devil" with?

I fought a lot with the director of The Shawshank Redemption.

And was it total surrender with Clint Eastwood?

It's not a matter of that with Clint. He doesn't direct. He directs a movie. He doesn't direct actors. We don't have meetings or sit-downs.

He just gives you the script, asks you if you'll do it. If you agree you just arrive on set and give your shot.

So Million Dollar Baby was really your take on the character?

Yeah. That's the way it should be, if you hire an actor. You're not hiring a piece of meat or a lump of clay to be moulded. You're hiring an actor for what he's going to bring into the film.

What do you think of the school of method acting, considering most of your reviews say that you live each role?

I'm not a method actor. There's no such thing as method acting.

That's the label . . .

Well, they label it that way because there is a method to preparation, there's a method to characterisation, there is a method to studying the script. Everybody has one.

What's the Morgan Freeman method?

Read the script.

That's it?

That's it. The script usually tells you everything. Even if there's no direction in the script, you take an emotional direction.

So there's never any question of you taking a character home? Do you always switch off once it's time to pack up?

I switch off at the edge of the stage (laughs).

Is there any movie that you watched recently and wished you had been a part of it? Does that happen to you?

Of course, it happens. (laughs) A lot (laughs). I wish I could have been in The Outlaw Josey Wales with Clint Eastwood and Chief Dan George. That's one of my favourite movies.

More recently there's The Interpreter.

You wanted Sean Penn's role?

Yeah. I thought it would have been a little bit deeper because it was about Africa. I thought it would have brought a whole different dimension to it.

What's a question you really hate being asked but get asked all the time?

Oh without a doubt it would have to be, 'what made you take this role?' (laughs) What makes you take any role?

I have to work for one and then they get this impression I do it for money. So it becomes this whole 'Oh he does it for money'.

How much does the Oscar mean to you? Did you need it to validate your belief in your acting?

You know, all my life, my career since childhood, I've won awards for acting.

So I expect it. It's got to a point where I think, yeah, I'll probably get it. You finally have won so it's like yeah, I have won.

It's only when you run after it that it gets disappointing if you don't have it. It's like that when you're competing and you're not competing for an Academy Award.

The thing I've always disliked about the Academy Awards ... well, I shouldn't use the term dislike.

But the bone I've always had to pick with the Academy Awards is that out of 20 actors, 16 lose.

You're a confident man. How do you manage to make sure it doesn't cross over into arrogance - or are you perceived as arrogant?

I used to be, in my 20s. But then you grow up (laughs).

And life's most important lesson?

Never look for trouble. It's always looking for you.

How's this festival different from others?

Shaikh Mohammad.

Have you met him?

Not yet. But I understand it's planned and might happen. But you just have to look around and there's enough proof of what he must be like.

What's your take on the state of the world?

There's some parts like this that are wonderful, positive. Some others like the place in last night's movie [Paradise Now] that are disturbing.

You've always managed to stay away from political controversy. Is that a conscious decision?

Absolutely. I'm an actor. If I wanted to talk politics I'd have been a politician.