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NEW YORK -- Young actors usually allow themselves only a few idols.
Like Morgan Freeman, for example. He's a mentor to many.
Like Brad Pitt, for example. He's Morgan's mentee.
Coincidentally, Freeman and Pitt play cops investigating a serial murder case in David Fincher's gruesome thriller, Seven.
As life imitates art, Pitt the younger greatly admires Freeman the elder.
Pitt says that, often, to anybody who will listen. And since most of the people listening to Pitt these days are professional pass-it-oners, Freeman is told about Pitt's personal admiration society almost immediately.
"Well," says the informed Freeman, "I admire his work, too, but I'm not going to be happy if I admire his work more than he admires mine."
Playfully, Freeman chuckles. But he gets serious about the r-e-s-p-e-c-t thing. "I try not to concern myself with that," says Freeman. "Worrying about respect is the beginning of taking yourself a little too seriously."
Something the 58-year-old actor has managed to avoid after nearly 30 years in the profession that has earned him accolades and Oscar nominations.
He lets his performances speak for him. His movie list is impressive: The Shawshank Redemption, Outbreak, Unforgiven, directing Bopha!, Driving Miss Daisy, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, Glory, Lean On Me and Street Smart.
And this is Freeman's work sheet after '86.
Ironically, he almost quit the acting game in the early '80s. Paul Newman finally hired him for Harry And Son in '83 after Newman found out he hadn't been doing much for a few years. "He said, 'That's criminal,' and hired me."
Amazing when you consider Freeman made his debut in the mid-'60s "doing a bus 'n' truck tour of Raisin In The Sun."
By the late '80s, "things were coming together long enough that I knew they might stay glued for a while. Every year I found that I was still working and still going."
Perhaps that's why the experienced Freeman appreciates the sentiment of being glorified, but depreciates the glory.
"I worked with Jose Ferrer in a play, and I was looking up to him, and he's shorter. Finally, he said, 'We're not going to be able to work together if you don't get one more rung up on the ladder.' "
Freeman did, and hasn't looked up or down since. "You have to keep a level playing field."
Which is his way of saying, never an idol or idoler be.
The agreeable Freeman doesn't disagree.
"I'm not methodical," he says of acting. "I don't ponder roles. I read the script and learn the lines. And wear the costumes correctly, if possible."
THE MORGAN FREEMAN FILE
BORN: In Memphis. Lived in Chicago, Mississippi and L.A. Joined the Air Force at 18.
OSCAR NOMINATIONS: Best actor nods for The Shawshank Redemption and Driving Miss Daisy, supporting actor for Street Smart. The Mighty Gents performance earned him a Tony.
HOME LIFE: The father of four lives on a farm in Mississippi with wife Myrna, some of his kids and nine grandchildren.
KEEPING FIT: For Kiss The Girls, Freeman worked out extensively. "I was at the gymnasium every day. As soon as the movie finished shooting, I immediately stopped."