1964–1988: Early work and rise to prominence Freeman worked as a dancer at the
1964 World's Fair and was a member of the Opera Ring musical theater group in San Francisco. He acted in a touring company version of
The Royal Hunt of the Sun, and also appeared as an extra in
Sidney Lumet's 1965 drama film
The Pawnbroker starring
Rod Steiger. before debuting on
Broadway in 1968's all-black version of
Hello, Dolly! that also starred
Pearl Bailey and
Cab Calloway. In 1969, Freeman also performed on stage in
The Dozens. Beginning in 1971, Freeman starred in the
PBS children's television show
The Electric Company, which gave him financial stability and recognition among American audiences. Freeman later acknowledged that he does not think about the show, but he was grateful to have been a part of it. His first credited appearance in a feature film was in 1971's ''
Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow!'', a family drama starring
Jack Klugman. After a short career break, he returned to work in 1978, appearing in two stage productions: 1978's
The Mighty Gents, winning a
Drama Desk Award and a
Clarence Derwent Award for his role as a
wino, and
White Pelicans. In 1980, he had a small role as Walter in the drama
Brubaker, which starred
Robert Redford as a prison warden. Freeman next appeared in the television film,
Attica (1980), which is about the
1971 Attica Prison riot and its aftermath. A year later he had a lead role in
Peter Yates'
Eyewitness with co-stars
William Hurt and
Sigourney Weaver. From 1982 to 1984, Freeman was a cast member of the soap opera
Another World, playing architect Roy Bingham. After several small roles in dramas, he starred in
Marie (1985), a film adaptation of
Marie: A True Story by
Peter Maas; he portrayed Charles Traughber. He also appeared in the miniseries
The Atlanta Child Murders. Freeman also had a small role in the drama
That Was Then... This Is Now, based on the
novel of the same name by
S. E. Hinton. In the mid-1980s, he began accepting prominent supporting roles in feature films, earning him a reputation for depicting wise, fatherly characters. Freeman's performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for
Best Supporting Actor. He later said that he considered
Street Smart to be his
breakthrough role. Freeman also received Obie Awards for his roles as a preacher in the musical
The Gospel at Colonus, and as Hoke Colburn in the play
Driving Miss Daisy, respectively.
Glory was nominated for five Academy Awards and won three: Best Supporting Actor for Washington,
Best Cinematography, and
Best Sound. Next, Freeman starred in the comedy-drama
Driving Miss Daisy, alongside
Jessica Tandy and
Dan Aykroyd. Based on
Alfred Uhry's
play of the same name in which Freeman had appeared previously, he reprises his role of Hoke Colburn, chauffeur for a Jewish widow. The film was a commercial success and grossed US$145 million worldwide. Film critics were mainly positive; Henry Sheehan from
The Hollywood Reporter opined that Freeman and Tandy's performances complemented each other while retaining their "individual star-quality". The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards (and received four, Best Picture being one of them), including
Best Actor for Freeman. Lastly in 1989, he starred in
Walter Hill's
Johnny Handsome, a crime drama in which he plays a New Orleans police officer. In a 1990 interview, Freeman said that
Glory was one of his favorite releases—"The Black legacy is as noble, is as heroic, is as filled with adventure and conquest and discovery as anybody else's. It's just that nobody knows it." In the same year he played a key role in the critically panned
The Bonfire of the Vanities. According to the
review aggregate site
Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 16% based on 51 reviews. In the summer of 1990, he played Petruchio, a role he had been thinking about for six years, in Shakespeare's
The Taming of the Shrew, which opened at
Delacorte theater in New York City. "[Petruchio] seems to have a lot of fun in life", he said. In 1991, Freeman had a supporting role in
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, an action-adventure starring
Kevin Costner. The film was a commercial success, but garnered mixed reviews from critics;
The New York Times Vincent Canby thought Freeman played Azeem with "wit and humor" despite the "muddled" plot. in 1990 Freeman also narrated
The True Story of Glory Continues, a documentary about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. In 1992, he appeared in
Clint Eastwood's western
Unforgiven, which won four Academy Awards including
Best Picture. The film depicts William Munny (Eastwood), an aging
outlaw and killer who takes on one more job with old friend Ned Logan (Freeman).
Unforgiven was widely acclaimed, with one critic calling Freeman's performance "outstanding". Also in 1992 Freeman starred in the
John G. Avildsen directed drama
The Power of One acting opposite
Stephen Dorf and
John Gielgud in a loose adaptation of
Bryce Courtenay's 1989
novel of the same name, in which he plays boxing coach Geel Piet. In 1993, Freeman made his
directorial debut with the drama
Bopha!, which tells the story of a black policeman (
Danny Glover) during South Africa's
apartheid era.
Bopha! was well-received, in particular for Freeman's directing.
Hal Hinson of
The Washington Post wrote: "Freeman lays out the father-son dynamics with great skill and very little fuss. There's no hysteria in his approach; instead, he sticks to the facts, relying on his cast to provide the emotion. The result is a surprisingly powerful, insightful film."
Kenneth Turan from
Los Angeles Times also complimented Freeman's direction but thought the film was "more predictable than powerful". In 1994, Freeman portrayed Red, the redeemed convict in
Frank Darabont's acclaimed drama
The Shawshank Redemption, with co-star
Tim Robbins. It is based on the 1982
Stephen King novella
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. Freeman was cast at the suggestion of producer Liz Glotzer, despite the novella's character of a white Irishman. Filming proved to be challenging, mainly because of Darabont's need for multiple takes. Freeman said, "The answer [I'd give him] was no... having to do something again and again for no discernible reason tends to be a bit debilitating to the energy." At the
67th Academy Awards the film received
Academy Award nominations for
Best Picture and a nomination for Freeman for
Best Actor losing to
Tom Hanks in
Forrest Gump (1994). Since its release,
The Shawshank Redemption has remained popular among audiences.
Outbreak (1995), a
medical thriller directed by
Wolfgang Petersen, was Freeman's next film. He played General Billy Ford, a doctor dealing with an outbreak of a fictional virus in a small town. The film stars
Dustin Hoffman,
Rene Russo, and
Donald Sutherland.
Outbreak was a box-office success, grossing $189.8 million worldwide, but gained a mixed critics' response.
Mick LaSelle of the
San Francisco Chronicle credited Freeman for his performance which may have been unappreciated by viewers. In 1995, Freeman starred with
Brad Pitt in
David Fincher's crime thriller
Seven, the story of two detectives who attempt to identify a
serial killer who bases his murders on the Christian
seven deadly sins. Freeman's performance generated a positive response; Owen Gleiberman of
Entertainment Weekly wrote: "Freeman plays nearly every scene in a doleful hush; he makes you lean in to hear his words, to ferret out the hints of anger and regret that haunt this weary knight." The critic from
Variety magazine called Freeman's acting "supremely nuanced". While filming
Outbreak, Freeman expressed an interest in starting a film production company. He turned to
McCreary, the producer of
Bopha!, to be his business partner. Freeman explained that he wanted to achieve
representation on screen, explore challenging issues and reveal hidden truths, so they chose to name their firm
Revelations Entertainment. A year later, he appeared in
Chain Reaction as Paul Shannon, a science-fiction thriller co-starring
Keanu Reeves and
Rachel Weisz. The film was a critical and commercial disappointment. Next, he was cast opposite
Robin Wright in 1996's
Moll Flanders, a period drama based on the
novel of the same name. The film received a mixed reception; Greg Evans from
Variety magazine said Freeman gave a "sweet" performance, while
The New York Times critic thought he was miscast.
1997–2004: Critical success and established actor In 1997, Freeman narrated the Academy Award-winning documentary
The Long Way Home, about
Jewish refugees' liberation after World War II and the establishment of Israel. He also appeared in
Steven Spielberg's historical epic
Amistad alongside
Djimon Hounsou,
Anthony Hopkins, and
Matthew McConaughey. Based on the events in 1839 aboard the slave ship
La Amistad, the film was mostly well-received and earned four nominations at the Academy Awards. The critic from
Salon magazine, however, thought the film lacked inspiration and Freeman's role was "utterly cryptic". In that same year, he was cast as psychologist Alex Cross in
Kiss the Girls, a thriller based on
James Patterson's
1995 novel of the same name. In a mixed review, Peter Stack of
San Francisco Chronicle thought Freeman and co-star
Ashley Judd gave strong performances despite the lengthy plot. Freeman went on to star in
Deep Impact (1998), a science-fiction disaster film in which he played President Tim Beck. The story depicts humanity's attempt to destroy a 7-mile (11 km) wide
comet set to collide with Earth and cause a mass extinction. The film was a box-office hit, despite competition from
Armageddon, another summer blockbuster of the year. Continuing with the disaster genre, he then starred opposite
Christian Slater in 1998's
Hard Rain, centering on a heist and man-made treachery amidst a
natural disaster in a small
Indiana town. The film was unpopular with critics;
Lawrence Van Gelder of
The New York Times called the characters "one-dimensional" and the film "routine". Freeman returned to the screen in 2000 with the lead role of Charlie in the comedy
Nurse Betty, featuring
Renée Zellweger,
Chris Rock, and
Greg Kinnear. The film premiered at the
Cannes Film Festival to mainly positive reviews; the critic from
Variety magazine thought Freeman and Rock had "wonderful chemistry". Next, he appeared in
Under Suspicion (2000), a thriller remake of the 1981 French film
Garde à vue. The film had been "carting round" for twelve years before Freeman was able to produce it under Revelations Entertainment. He co-starred with
Gene Hackman; "Working with Gene was wonderful. I didn't find it too hard working with an icon I so respected", Freeman said.
CNN's Paul Tatara praised the actors but thought the film was "too tawdry to be completely entertaining, and too static to generate much excitement". In 2001, Freeman reprised his role of Alex Cross in
Along Came a Spider, a sequel to 1997's
Kiss the Girls. The film received mixed-to-negative reviews. Susan Wloszczyna of
USA Today observed that "Freeman strides with noble authority" but thought the overall film was unmemorable. In 2002, Freeman was cast opposite
Ben Affleck in the spy thriller
The Sum of All Fears. It is based on
Tom Clancy's 1991
novel of the same name, about a plot by an Austrian
Neo-Nazi to trigger a
nuclear war between the United States and Russia, so that he can establish a fascist superstate in Europe.
The Sum of All Fears received moderate reviews, but was a commercial success, grossing $193.9 million worldwide. Next, Freeman starred alongside Ashley Judd and
Jim Caviezel in
High Crimes (2002), a legal thriller based on
Joseph Finder's 1998 novel of the same name. The story follows lawyer Claire (Judd), whose husband (Caviezel) is arrested and placed on trial for the murder of villagers while he was in the
Marines. Although several critics were unimpressed with the story, they credited Freeman and Judd for their chemistry and performances. In 2003, Freeman appeared as God in the hit comedy
Bruce Almighty with
Jim Carrey and
Jennifer Aniston. Next, he starred in the science fiction horror
Dreamcatcher, adapted from
Stephen King's 2001
novel of the same name. The film was a box-office flop, and garnered mostly negative reviews;
Dreamcatcher has an approval rating of 28% on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. Also in 2003, Freeman starred in two other dramas that were not widely seen,
Levity and
Guilty by Association. His 2004 releases were comedy
The Big Bounce and sports drama
Million Dollar Baby. In the latter, directed by Clint Eastwood, Freeman portrayed an elderly former boxer. The film won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture,
Best Director,
Best Actress (
Hilary Swank), and Best Supporting Actor, earning Freeman his first Academy Award. Roger Ebert complimented Freeman's "flat and factual" narration, and
Timeout magazine thought the cast fully inhabited their roles.
2005–2014: Continued success Freeman made six appearances in various films in 2005. In the drama
An Unfinished Life, Freeman plays Mitch, a neighbor of a Wyoming rancher (Robert Redford). The film had a mixed response;
The Guardian critic thought it was amiable but questioned the purpose of Freeman's "sidekick" role. Freeman's authoritative voice led to his narration of two documentaries; Steven Spielberg's
War of the Worlds and the Academy Award-winning
March of the Penguins. After this, he co-starred with
Jet Li in the action-thriller
Unleashed, playing Sam, a blind piano tuner who helps Li's character turn his life around. The film gained a mixed-to-positive reception; Peter Hartlaub of
San Francisco Chronicle was confused with the genre and thought Freeman's character interrupted the narrative. Freeman's next role was in the thriller
Edison, which bombed at the box office. In his last release of 2005, he provided the voice of
Neil Armstrong in the documentary
Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D. Freeman starred in 2006's
The Contract, as assassin Frank Carden opposite
John Cusack. The film was released
direct-to-video, which critic John Cornelius suggests was unsurprising, considering the generic formula of the thriller. Freeman next appeared in
Lucky Number Slevin (2006), a crime thriller directed by
Paul McGuigan. Starring a principal cast of
Josh Hartnett,
Bruce Willis,
Lucy Liu,
Stanley Tucci, and
Ben Kingsley, the film garnered mixed reception. David Mattin of
BBC wrote: "Kingsley and Freeman shine individually, but their inevitable, climactic clash of heads lacks force. Like its leading man [Hartnett], this movie presents a charming façade with nothing much underneath." Next, Freeman portrayed himself in the low-budget comedy
10 Items or Less opposite
Paz Vega. Two weeks after its theatrical release,
10 Items or Less was made available for download from
ClickStar, a film distribution company that Freeman co-founded that year. In 2007, Freeman reprised his role as God in
Evan Almighty, a sequel to 2003's
Bruce Almighty, with
Steve Carell.
Evan Almighty was a box-office failure and negatively received;
The Guardian critic wrote: "A cast full of people who have been frequently funny elsewhere flounder in this deluge of sentimentality and
CGI. Avoid like the
Ten Plagues." The drama
Feast of Love was Freeman's second release of 2007. It is based on the 2000 novel
The Feast of Love by
Charles Baxter, about a group of friends living in suburban Oregon who come into contact with a free spirit who changes their outlook on life;
Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian sarcastically remarked that it was great to see Freeman in a challenging role. Freeman had a supporting part in
Gone Baby Gone (2007), a mystery thriller that was also Ben Affleck's directorial debut. Adapted from the 1998
novel of the same name by
Dennis Lehane, Freeman plays Captain Jack Doyle of the
Boston Police Department. The story and cast performances were positively received;
Time Out magazine called it "flawed but impressive". Afterward, he starred in
Rob Reiner's 2007 comedy
The Bucket List opposite
Jack Nicholson. The plot follows two
terminally ill men on a road trip with a list of things to do before they die. The film grossed $175 million worldwide. for his portrayal of
Nelson Mandela (pictured) in the film
Invictus (2009). In 2008, Freeman was cast in the action-thriller
Wanted, a loose adaptation of
the comic book miniseries by
Mark Millar and
J. G. Jones. The plot revolves around Wesley Gibson (
James McAvoy), a frustrated account manager who discovers that he is the son of a professional
assassin and decides to join the Fraternity, a
secret society of which Sloan (Freeman) is the leader.
Principal photography took place in Chicago; co-star
rapper Common remarked on the set atmosphere: "Freeman is a cool guy. He'd be walking around joking and singing and just dancing. You know, artists are free and I just felt the freedom in him." The film received generally favorable reviews; Peter Howell of
Toronto Star thought it was original and one of Freeman's bolder performances to date. Freeman narrated
The Love Guru (2008), before appearing in
The Dark Knight (2008), the second installment of Christopher Nolan's
Dark Knight Trilogy, in which he reprised his role as Lucius Fox. Freeman returned to Broadway in 2008 after an eighteen-year absence to co-star with
Frances McDormand and
Peter Gallagher in
Clifford Odets' play,
The Country Girl, directed by
Mike Nichols. Freeman continued to accept roles in a diverse range of genres. In 2009, Freeman starred opposite
Antonio Banderas in the heist movie
Thick as Thieves. Next, he collaborated with
Christopher Walken and
William H. Macy for the comedy
The Maiden Heist. For some time, Freeman expressed a desire to do a film based on
Nelson Mandela. Initially, he wanted to adapt Mandela's autobiography
Long Walk to Freedom into a screenplay, but plans were never finalized. Instead, he purchased the film rights to John Carlin's book:
Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation. The book was adapted into a film which Clint Eastwood directed,
Invictus, starring Freeman as Mandela and
Matt Damon as rugby team captain
Francois Pienaar. The biographical drama received positive reviews for Freeman's performance; Roger Ebert wrote: "Freeman does a splendid job of evoking the man Nelson Mandela ... He shows him as genial, confident, calming, over what was clearly a core of tempered steel." Freeman received Best Actor nominations at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes, as well as a nomination for
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The same year he provided the narration for
Janet Langhart's
Anne and Emmett, a play featuring an imaginary conversation between
Emmett Till and
Anne Frank, both killed as young teenagers because of racial persecution. Freeman's sole film release of 2010 was
Red with co-stars
Bruce Willis,
Helen Mirren, and
John Malkovich.
Red is loosely adapted from the
comic-book series Red, created by
Warren Ellis and
Cully Hamner and published by the
DC Comics imprint
Homage. Freeman plays CIA
mentor Joe, who helps retired fellow agent Frank (Willis) to uncover some assassins. The film was a critical and commercial success; writing for Melbourne's
The Age, Jim Schembri praised Freeman and the cast who "bring an infectious comic energy to their roles". Besides film, Freeman worked on other projects. In January 2010, he replaced
Walter Cronkite as the voiceover introduction to the
CBS Evening News presented by
Katie Couric. CBS gave the need for consistency in introductions for regular news broadcasts and special reports as the basis for the change. In 2011, Freeman narrated the fantasy
Conan the Barbarian and appeared in the family drama
Dolphin Tale, as prosthetic specialist Dr. McCarthy. Returning to theater in 2011, Freeman was featured with
John Lithgow in the Broadway debut of
Dustin Lance Black's play,
8, a staged reenactment of
Perry v. Brown, the federal trial that overturned California's
Proposition 8 ban on
same-sex marriage. Freeman played Attorney
David Boies. The production was held at the
Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York City to raise money for the
American Foundation for Equal Rights. Freeman had a lead role in the 2012 drama
The Magic of Belle Isle, as an alcoholic novelist trying to write again. The film fared poorly with critics, gaining only a 29% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Lastly in 2012, Freeman reprised his role as Lucius Fox for the third time in
The Dark Knight Rises. A number of box office hits were released in 2013. Freeman appeared in the action-thriller
Olympus Has Fallen, the first installment in what would become the
Has Fallen film series; he portrays
Speaker of the House Allan Trumbull. The
San Francisco Chronicle critic gave
Olympus Has Fallen 3 out of 4 stars and opined that Freeman gave an amicable supporting performance. He then starred in the science fiction drama
Oblivion, with co-star
Tom Cruise, as veteran soldier Malcolm Beech, and appeared in the thriller
Now You See Me, as an ex-magician. Lastly, he played a retiree in
Last Vegas, with co-stars
Michael Douglas,
Robert De Niro,
Kevin Kline, and
Mary Steenburgen. Filmed in
Las Vegas and
Atlanta,
Last Vegas was praised for its cast's chemistry, and one critic thought Freeman brought the most amusement. In 2014, Freeman voiced the character
Vitruvius in
The Lego Movie, a commercially successful 3D animation. He starred in
Transcendence, a science fiction thriller directed by
Wally Pfister in his directorial debut, in which Freeman plays scientist Joseph Tagger. Critic reviews of the film were generally mixed, according to
Metacritic. Next, he co-starred in the action
Lucy (2014), about a woman (
Scarlett Johansson) who gains
psychokinetic abilities when a
nootropic drug is absorbed into her bloodstream. Freeman plays Professor Samuel Norman, who helps her research the condition. Producer
Virginie Silla wanted Freeman for the part because of his experience in portraying a character of wisdom. "He was the perfect actor", she said. In the same year Freeman appeared in
Dolphin Tale 2, the sequel to 2011's
Dolphin Tale, and
5 Flights Up, a comedy-drama. At the end of 2014, Freeman appeared as himself, among other celebrities, in the documentary
Lennon or McCartney. 2015–2024: Independent films, return to television, and box office bombs in 2018
Kazuaki Kiriya's action-thriller
Last Knights was Freeman's first film of 2015, starring opposite
Clive Owen. The plot centers on a band of warriors who seek to avenge the loss of their master at the hands of a corrupt minister. Reviews were largely underwhelming; Sara Stewart of
New York Post called it "bloody bad", adding: "Once-proud box office names are its first casualties." Freeman next joined the cast of
Ted 2, a comedy sequel to
Ted, directed by
Seth MacFarlane. The story follows the talking teddy bear Ted as he fights for civil rights in order to be recognized as a person. Freeman portrays Patrick Meighan, a highly respected civil rights attorney. A television series,
Madam Secretary, also occupied Freeman's time. He played
Chief Justice Frawley of the United States
Supreme Court in a recurring role in the series
. He and his producing partner Lori McCreary were executive producers. Freeman directed the first episode; McCreary remarked of his directing style, "What's riveting is that he can achieve a complete tonal change in performance with the least amount of direction... Everybody behaves better when Morgan is there... but he's very fun." At the end of 2015, Freeman played a U.S. senator in the thriller
Momentum. Reprising his role as Allan Trumbull, Freeman appeared in
London Has Fallen, the 2016 sequel to
Olympus Has Fallen. The film follows a plot to assassinate the world leaders of the
G7 as they attend the
British Prime Minister's funeral in London, as well as
Secret Service agent Mike Banning's efforts to protect U.S. President Benjamin Asher (
Aaron Eckhart) from being killed. The film was a commercial success; however, writing for
The A.V. Club,
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky criticized the cheap filmmaking, saying: "The movie periodically cuts to overqualified supporting actors—including Freeman,
Melissa Leo, and
Robert Forster... (As it turns out, it's possible to write something that will sound like garbage even when spoken in Freeman's sonorous voice.)" Next, Freeman reprised his role as Thaddeus Bradley, starring in
Now You See Me 2 (2016), the sequel to
Now You See Me, the sequel grossing a successful $334.9 million worldwide. Finally, he had a leading role in the historical drama
Ben-Hur, the fifth
film adaptation of the 1880 novel
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by
Lew Wallace. Freeman expressed interest in playing
Sheik Ilderim, a wealthy
Nubian sheik, stating: "This character has quite a bit of power in the story. And I like playing power. It's something about my own personal ego."
Ben-Hur turned out to be one of 2016's biggest
box-office bombs. in 2023 In 2017, Freeman appeared in two comedies:
Going in Style and
Just Getting Started. The first one is a remake of
the 1979 film with the same name, co-starring
Michael Caine and
Alan Arkin; in it they play bank robbers after their pensions are canceled. It opened to a mixed response;
The Telegraphs
Robbie Collin thought the trio of actors looked tired before the end of it.
Just Getting Started, in which Freeman starred with
Tommy Lee Jones and
Rene Russo, was critically panned by reviewers. The plot follows an ex-FBI agent (Jones) who must put aside his personal feud with a former mob lawyer (Freeman) at a retirement home when the mafia comes to kill the pair. Freeman also hosted the
National Geographic The Story of God with Morgan Freeman and
The Story of Us with Morgan Freeman, in 2016 and 2017, respectively. In 2018, Freeman narrated
Alpha, a historical drama set in the
last ice age. He then starred in Disney's
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, a retelling of
E. T. A. Hoffmann's short story "
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" and
Marius Petipa's and
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet
The Nutcracker. Finally he had an uncredited role as Jerome in the biographical drama
Brian Banks, a high-school
football player who was falsely accused of rape and upon his release attempted to fulfill his dream of making the
NFL. In 2019, Freeman starred opposite
John Travolta in
The Poison Rose, an adaptation of the novel by Richard Salvatore. In
Angel Has Fallen, Freeman reprised his role as Allan Trumbull, the third installment in the
Has Fallen film series, following
Olympus Has Fallen and
London Has Fallen. Although critical reception was mixed, the film was a box office success, earning $147.5 million worldwide. Freeman next appeared alongside an ensemble cast in
George Gallo's crime comedy
The Comeback Trail (2020) and in
Coming 2 America (2021), a sequel to
the 1988 film. On November 20, 2022, Freeman performed with
Ghanim Al-Muftah at the
opening ceremony of the
2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. In 2021 he took a guest starring role acting opposite
Michael Douglas and
Alan Arkin in the
Netflix comedy
The Kominsky Method for which he was nominated for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Since 2023 he has portrayed a
United States Secretary of State in the
Taylor Sheridan created
Paramount+ spy thriller series
Lioness starring
Nicole Kidman and
Zoe Saldaña. Freeman stated he joined the show due to Sheridan telling
TV Insider, "I'm so enamored of him and his work. He's so prolific, and it's always good."
2025–present: Later work Freeman returned to the heist franchise acting in ''
Now You See Me: Now You Don't'' which was released in November 2025. It marks his first theatrical release in several years. Speaking about the possibility of retiring, Freeman said: "Sometimes the idea of retirement would float past me but, as soon as my agent says there's a job or somebody wants you or they've made an offer, the whole thing just boils back into where it was yesterday. 'how much you're going to pay, where we’re gonna be?' The appetite is still there. I will concede that it's dimmed a little. But not enough to make a serious difference." ==Other ventures==