With an illustrious film career still going strong, Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman continues to venture into projects on the small screen, namely with his Emmy-nominated National Geographic Channel documentary series "The Story of God".
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The series features Freeman exploring various cultures and religions, and their take on religion-related topics, particularly about their belief in a God or a higher power. Freeman seeks to understand how faith has shaped our lives and travels to remote destinations all over the in his quest to better understand people's relationship with faith and the idea of a God.
"I've literally been around the world talking to an enormous number of different peoples with different faiths", said Freeman at the Television Critics Association panel, "And the one lesson that I come away from that with is that whatever I believe, I believe. Whatever you believe, I cannot say you're wrong in it. You cannot say I'm wrong in my belief. My belief is my belief. Your belief is your belief. We're all entitled to it and we're all correct".
Q: Do you believe in God?
"Yes. Why do I believe in God? I'm God. You laugh, but I mean it. I believe that the concept of God is the concept of human life. Either there is God or there isn't God. I believe there is God and the reason there is God because there is me. That may sound a little bit obfuscatory and I hope you can understand what I'm saying. What I believe in is me. I believe in me as having the power of God in me. And what is God? No answer out there? God is love. Am I wrong or what?".
Now in his 80's, Freeman commends a prolific career with such film credits ranging from "Glory" to "Street Smart", "Driving Miss Daisy" and "The Shawshank Redemption" which all three earned him Academy Award nominations and Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" for which he eventually won the Academy Award back in 2004.
In recent years he has been involved as a producing partner for such documentary series as "Through the Wormhole" and "The Story of US", as well as the drama series "Madam Secretary" on CBS.
"Your task in life is probably to do as much as you can for others for nothing", said Freeman, "In film, I just need to belong. I grew up in the movies, watching them, and not seeing enough of me, none of me. So, my film career is actually predicated on being able to see me. That doesn't cross over to this line of fire. This is a completely different set of rules, I guess, I can use to live by".
Q: What do these producer roles entail?
"The truth is, I don't have to do anything. I've always said executive producer is just a title it's not a job. Producer is the job. These guys do the heavy lifting. Sometimes I get to comment. I could comment anytime I wanted to, but it's not necessary. It's like having too many cooks in the kitchen, so I have plenty time to play Executive Producer".
