UNITED KINGDOM: Clint Eastwood is joined by Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon in London for UK premiere of "Invictus"

Record ID: 221068

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Clint Eastwood is joined by Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon in London for UK premiere of "Invictus"
  • Date: 2nd February 2010
  • Summary: (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MORGAN FREEMAN, ON MANDELA'S REACTION TO THE FILM, SAYING "Yes, he has seen the film and I get the impression that he liked it Because when he was watching it he was just sitting there nodding and smiling." CLINT EASTWOOD TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR/DIRECTOR, SAYING "Yeah, absolutely beca
  • Embargoed: 17th February 2010 12:00
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  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA6GQJU55B5ZJD2Z7OMP909CR4Y
  • Story Text: Stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon joined legendary director Clint Eastwood on the red carpet in London for the UK premiere of their latest collaboration, "Invictus," on Sunday (January 31).
    The film follows events surrounding the 1995 Rugby World Cup, as a newly elected South African President, Nelson Mandela, strives to bridge racial tensions between blacks and whites. With the nation set to host the Rugby World Cup, the new president sees an opportunity to bring the country together, deciding to use the national rugby team, the Springboks, to unite South Africans and enlisting the help of captain Francois Pienaar to do it.
    Morgan Freeman stars as former South African president Nelson Mandela, while Matt Damon portrays former captain of the South African Springboks rugby team, Francois Pienaar.
    After working together in "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby" and bound by a close friendship, Eastwood has now given Freeman what critics have called "the role of his life".
    Mandela has been quoted as saying that if anyone were to play him in a film, Freeman would be his first choice. Luckily, playing Mandela was an opportunity Freeman had been waiting for.
    "Well it's one (role) I've been waiting to play for a while. I'm not sure I was always going to play it but I was anointed by him (Mandela) if it ever came to be," Freeman told Reuters Television on the red carpet at the premiere.
    The Academy-award winner added he thought the performance and film were met with approval from the former President.
    "Yes, he has seen the film and I get the impression that he liked it Because when he was watching it he was just sitting there nodding and smiling," he recalled.
    Director Clint Eastwood spoke of the extra responsibility of telling the true story of people who were still alive to see the dramatisation.
    "Yeah, absolutely because Mandela is still alive and because all the events - everything that's in the picture, actually happened it's responsible to do it, also you want to get the rugby right because everybody saw the real game and so for that reason you try to be as accurate as possible," he said.
    Matt Damon said he too was mindful of doing justice to Francios Pienaar, whom he met with to research the role.
    "Definitely and somebody that I really like and admire too so I did want to get it right, or at least get it in the ball park," he said.
    But authenticity only goes so far - despite undergoing rigourous training to familiarize himself with rugby and doing his own playing most of the game scenes, the actor said he was willing to leave the more advanced play to the experts when necessary.
    "I wasn't afraid to tell Dirty Harry I'd sit out a shot or two if it looked like it might be dangerous,"
    The man himself, Pienaar, gave Damon's performance a thumbs up - despite having to overcome some differences between them that the former Springbok captain identified.
    "Well first of all he's good looking, he's intelligent, he's a bloody good actor and all those three I'm not. So to have him play me is quite surreal, actually. It's quite bizarre. In the movie-- when you've lived it you can sometimes be over critical because there's certain things where you say 'I would do that different' and there's some acts that he just gets so well. The one scene on Robben Island, when I watched it in LA, I became very emotional. He's a very, very gifted actor," he said, adding: "I got choked up in that scene and my little boys were sitting next to me and the tears were running down the cheek and they said: 'Dad are you okay?' and I said: 'Yes, I am.' That was such a special moment there. So those scenes, they're indelible they're in my mind and I'll never forget them."
    The film's title stems from a short poem by the British poet William Ernest Henley, first published in 1875, that Mandela often recited to himself while imprisoned on Robben Island. The key final lines are: "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul."
    "Invictus" is based on " based on John Carlin's book "Playing the Enemy."
    It opens across UK cinemas on February 5.
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