‘Moby Dick’ and Morgan Freeman: a match made in heaven
Many actors who end up in the position of being able to pick and choose their own projects often tend to mount adaptations of their favourite works, but so far, Morgan Freeman has resisted the temptation to try his hand at putting his own spin on Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.
The classic novel has been the subject of countless stories spanning radio, film, and television dating back over a century, covering everything from straightforward adaptations of the book to fantastical twists via movies based on the events that inspired Melville to write his masterpiece in the first place in the case of Ron Howard’s In the Heart of the Sea.
Several noted thespians have stepped up to the plate and played the part of Captain Ahab, with Gregory Peck, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, and William Hurt among them, but at no point has it ever popped up on Freeman’s radar. Based on his lifelong adoration of the timeless tale and his signature gravitas, it stands out as a major missed opportunity.
Then again, perhaps he was never interested in trying, considering that not only is Moby Dick his favourite-ever novel, but the 1956 feature directed by John Huston and starring Peck is among his favourite films. He’s got one of the most soothing and distinctive voices in entertainment, too, but nobody’s even joined the dots and offered him the chance to narrate an audiobook.
Another impact Moby Dick had on Freeman’s life was that it inspired his love of sailing, a hobby he took up long before he was a professional actor, never mind an Academy Award-winning icon. As he shared on social media, “I started sailing in 1967 because I was always fascinated by the sea since I first read Moby Dick as a child.”
However, even though he wasn’t very good, he stuck at it. “Despite running into trees and sandbanks, I was thoroughly hooked,” he explained. “That summer, I committed to learning how to sail, and I spent the next 50 years doing just that.” When he’s not lending his dulcet tones to wizened sages, Freeman can regularly be found on the open seas, with the star having owned several yachts over the years and taken them all over the world.
His appreciation of Huston’s old-fashioned adventure may help explain why he’s never been struck with the desire to star in a new take on such an influential work, which he described as “one of the best film adaptations of a book”. Not only that, but it managed to strike that rare balance between doing justice to the novel while standing on its own as a superior slice of cinema.
“Now that was filmmaking,” he said of the movie. “John Huston. Call me Ishmael. I read the book, and there are very few books that I have read and seen the movie, and liked the movie.” Unsurprisingly, Moby Dick was the first title that came to mind, even if he hasn’t taken the plunge himself. The potential is still there for Freeman to narrate a new adaptation or an audiobook, but if he hasn’t done it yet, then he may never do it at all.