By Andrea Beattie
Morgan Freeman admits he fell deeply in love with his Lucy co-star Scarlett Johansson.
But it happened way back in 2010, years before the two worked together on the Luc Besson-directed mind-bending, sci-fi thriller.
“I fell deeply in love with her in Iron Man 2,” Freeman laughs on the phone from New York.
Yeah, you and every other person with a pulse, Mr Freeman.
But he says working with the 29-year-old New York actor was as mind-blowing as their film’s subject matter.
“It was awesome,” he says.
“She’s beautiful and she’s a wonderful actress, and a terrific person. With all that beauty, it’s beyond skin deep.”
Coming from anyone else, you might think some professional flattery is at work, but because it’s coming from Freeman, you believe it.
With five Oscar nominations and a win for Best Supporting Actor in Million Dollar Baby, a Golden Globe for his role in Driving Miss Daisy and a swag of awards for his roles in The Shawshank Redemption, Invictus and Glory, and winner of the coveted Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2012, Freeman is one of the most respected and in-demand actors of his generation.
He’s the silky-voiced actor who’s played Nelson Mandela, a US president, God (twice) and even himself — if you’re a filmmaker, and you want to bring credibility and stability to your project, you call Freeman.
But the 77-year-old’s not above being a bit of a joker either — last month he inhaled helium with Jimmy Fallon, altering his perfectly pitched voice into that of a crazed chipmunk, and last year took the piss out of himself for falling asleep last year during a live TV interview alongside Now You See Me castmate Michael Caine.
In Besson’s latest film, Johansson plays Lucy, a naive 25-year-old living in Taipai who is tricked into becoming a drug mule for Korean gangsters by her (soon to be literally) brainless boyfriend.
“I was fascinated by the whole idea. Listening to him, I could start picturing it in my mind. And this is Luc Besson — this guy is the most fascinating filmmaker going I think. He just gets so far out there.”
But it’s no ordinary drug she’s carrying — it’s a synthetic super drug (which looks a lot like it was pinched from the Breaking Bad set) called CPH4, based on a naturally produced hormone which, in small doses makes you think you’re invincible.
In higher doses, it actually makes you invincible thanks to a significant increase in higher brain function. CPH4 also gives the user ridiculously powerful abilities such as telekinesis, enhanced physical capabilities, shape shifting and mental time travel. So when the drugs in Lucy’s stomach start to leach into her bloodstream, she becomes super human, able to access more than the reportedly ‘normal’ 10 per cent of brain function.
But the human body has limitations — and it’s not long before Lucy’s starts to fail her.
She seeks out Prof Samuel Norman (Freeman) — a scientist who has dedicated his life to studying brain function and capacity — and the only one who may be able to save her.
It’s a tour de force of a film; you barely get a chance to catch your breath before Lucy is outwitting, outmanoeuvring and kicking the crap out of anyone who gets in her way. And while it’s fun watching Johansson take on packs of machine gun-toting bad guys by spinning them into the air with her mind, and time-travelling back to the age of the dinosaurs and her namesake, the earliest known human ancestor who lived 3.2 million years ago, and even the Big Bang — it sometimes veers into slightly silly territory.
But Freeman says working with the French director was fascinating, coming on board with the project before the script was completed.
“I actually I had lunch with Luc and he just talked the whole movie to me,” Freeman says.
“I was fascinated by the whole idea. Listening to him, I could start picturing it in my mind. And this is Luc Besson — this guy is the most fascinating filmmaker going I think. He just gets so far out there.”
“I think now I’m probably more content to be than to have, really. But that’s because I’ve been so fortunate to get so frickin’ much, you know?”
And just how far out would Freeman go, if he could ‘mind-travel’ and visit any event in history?
“I wouldn’t mind having a front-row seat at the Big Bang,” he says.
“In space, they say they can’t hear you scream, so there may not have been a sound. But imagine if you could figure out a way to film that, you know? Incredible.”
As he is normally brought in to play the reliable and trustworthy character, Freeman says he’s thinking about playing a bad guy.
“Actually, the devil is in the offing,” he says.
“I talked about that with Tom Shadyac who (directed) both Bruce and Evan Almighty, in which God (played by Freeman) figured prominently, and I came up with this idea … listen to this; God’s counterpart is Satan, right, so what if I got to play Satan?
“Does that sound interesting? It would require some very clever writing.”
And speaking of movies, has Freeman seen anything lately he particularly liked?
“Lucy,” he says, laughing.
“That’s the last movie I saw, and it was quite amazing. There’s a cool guy in it, he plays the professor. I think he’s awesome.”
There are shades of the real Freeman in his character, who is concerned that people have become too obsessed with having, rather than being.
After surviving a horrific car crash in 2008 that paralysed his left hand, Freeman says with age, he has found it easier to enjoy the moment.
“I think now I’m probably more content to be than to have, really. But that’s because I’ve been so fortunate to get so frickin’ much, you know?” he laughs.
“I am a truly lucky man.”
Original article appeared in mX newspaper.