Despite making his feature film debut with an uncredited background role in 1964’s The Pawnbroker, it would be another two decades before Morgan Freeman finally gained widespread mainstream attention and success. In what proved to be a banner year professionally, the actor’s four credits in 1989 showcased his multifaceted skillset as a performer through a quartet of acclaimed performances in movies that couldn’t have been more different genre-wise.
Ed Zwick’s historical epic Glory, Rocky director John G. Avildsen’s biographical drama Lean on Me, Walter Hill’s crime thriller Johnny Handsome, and Driving Miss Daisy all released within months of each other. The latter would go on to win the Academy Award for ‘Best Picture’ while securing Freeman a nomination in the ‘Best Actor’ category.
However, it was Street Smart two years previously that saw the star land the first Oscar nod of his career for a role that would eventually be deemed the opposite of what audiences would know him for. These days, Freeman is lauded for his wizened gravitas and penchant for playing kindly authority figures. However, Jerry Schatzberg’s crime thriller cast him as Leo Smalls, a violent and manipulative pimp who goes by the nickname of ‘Fast Black’.
It may have resulted in recognition as a ‘Best Supporting Actor’ contender at the most prestigious ceremony in Hollywood. However, Freeman flat-out refused to allow his breakthrough big screen turn to let him be typecast as a bruising, intimidating, street-level thug.
In an interview during his appearance at Film by the Sea to collect the Grand Acting Award (per Flashback Files), Freeman named his role in Street Smart as his favourite part that he’d ever played. Following that, he admitted that he “refused” to consider any offers that would require him to play characters of a similar nature.
Explaining his decision, Freeman acknowledged that the film serving as an attention-grabber to the industry at large could have been a negative in the long run: “As soon as you come out with something like that, you get a lot of offers to play that same role again in other films.”
Continuing, he reasoned: “If I’m good at something, I don’t want to do that again; I want to do something else.” Of course, that’s a touch ironic, considering The Shawshank Redemption marked the first time Freeman had ever narrated a feature, which then opened countless doors to narration and voiceover work that he’s happy to accept to this day.
On the other hand, very rarely has he played anything that could be described as an out-and-out antagonist in the decades since Street Smart. Even when he does, it tends to come in broad genre films like comic book adaptation Wanted, heist caper Now You See Me, and straight-to-video action flick Vanquish.
