HOLLYWOOD -- Carl Franklin directed Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd in the courtroom thriller High Crimes.
He says Freeman, 64, "is one of the few black actors of his generation who avoided the whole black exploitation film scene.
"Morgan is the venerable star. He has dignity both on and off the screen. Still, Morgan is at his best when his character has a ragged edge.
"Most people don't realize Morgan is as irreverent in real life as many of his characters are on film. He's definitely a renegade."
In High Crimes, Freeman plays a once-famous lawyer who lost his reputation due to alcoholism. He gets a new chance to prove his worth when he teams up with Judd's lawyer to defend her husband (Jim Caviezel), who has been accused of murder.
"The role could just as easily have been played by Gene Hackman or Tommy Lee Jones. We were just lucky Morgan was interested.
"He can afford to be very picky these days. He gets so many offers."
Freeman just completed filming his role as an UFO investigator in Dreamcatcher, Lawrence Kasdan's screen version of the Stephen King novel.
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