Morgan Freeman’s Favorite Performance Of His Is An ’80s Gem

«Street Smart» follows Christopher Reeve as Jonathan Fisher, an up-and-coming reporter in New York City. When he pitches a profile of a pimp, Fisher is unable to meet his deadline on time, forcing him to fabricate a story. The piece launches Fisher to journalistic stardom, but the parallels between the fake pimp and the real-life Fast Black are so similar that Fisher becomes vulnerable to subpoenas, intimidation, and violence.

In an interview with HitFix, Morgan Freeman called Fast Black his first «real role.» The role was rewarding because it demanded him to act outside of himself. «I went as far away from me as I could get in terms of acting,» he continued. «Everything else — you know — you pull something out of you. Not that I wasn’t pulling stuff out of me in terms of my action with the ladies, but to me, it was more alien to who I really am.»

That Freeman holds the role in such high esteem is notable considering his other Oscar-nominated performances in «Driving Miss Daisy,» «The Shawshank Redemption,» «Million Dollar Baby,» and «Invictus.»

If Fast Black feels like a singular character in Freeman’s filmography, that’s because he made a concerted effort to avoid typecasting. «I refused [to play more vicious men],» the actor told The Flashback Files in 2000. «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. I didn’t wanna be… If I’m good at something, I don’t want to do that again, I want to do something else.»