GERMANY: Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are in the German capital for the premiere of 'The Bucket List'

Record ID: 815282

  • Title: GERMANY: Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are in the German capital for the premiere of 'The Bucket List'
  • Date: 24th January 2008
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (JANUARY 21, 2008) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR JACK NICHOLSON TALKING ABOUT BEING A CHARACTER ACTOR SAYING: "I have never had a problem with that, you know, I have always wanted to be, and I guess i am a character actor. Inside I think of myself as one of the world's great beauties, but I understand that this is not a generally-held opinion, so..." NEWS CONFERENCE FREEMAN CLAPPING FILM TITLE POSTER FREEMAN, REINER AND NICHOLSON HUGGING
  • Embargoed: 8th February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVA3PLS180X6WVYIFKWQDS3X2MKQ
  • Story Text: Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman were in Berlin on Monday (January 21) to show that golden oldies can still bring in the crowds.
    Nicholson and Freeman, both Oscar winners, both in their 70s and champions of their craft, were presenting their new film "The Bucket List," about a couple of mismatched old guys who share the same cramped hospital room and same incurable disease - cancer.
    Cancer usually doesn't produce laughs, nor does being old and cranky.
    But Nicholson says they might have stumbled onto something -- a feel good movie about all the things that make people feel bad.

    "I don't know about a bucket list. I'd like to see the pyramids, I'd like to do this. I'd like to always make one more good picture. You know, I'd like to learn another language, I won't do it. I'd like to learn how to cook, I won't do it. I'd like to make a contribution to society other than as a clown, I won't do that," he joked in the German capital.
    Nicholson plays the millionaire owner of a hospital chain whose motto is two patients to every room. He then gets trapped into a friendship with Freeman, the black owner of a garage, who had to drop out of college early to support his family, when the two are assigned the same room.
    Freeman's character has the idea of making a "bucket list" of all the things he'd like to do before dying and Nicholson finances the trip for both of them as their friendship blossoms.

    "That is my own personal thing you know, you name it form the movie, but you have it from your own life, so you would call it the 'bucket list'," Freeman said on the red carpet, "before that you wouldn't know what to call it, they're just things I want to do."
    The script marks the debut effort of Justin Zackham, a struggling screenwriter who was on the verge of leaving Hollywood. He gave it one last shot with "The Bucket List," which he wrote in two weeks. It was turned down by every producer in town until it ended up with director Rob Reiner, who made "When Harry Met Sally" (1989) and "A Few Good Men" (1992). Reiner said working with the two Oscar winners was definitely a highlight of his career.

    "This is on the top of it I tell you! To work with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman is definitely, I can cross that off my bucket list."
    Nicholson and Freeman joked around together on the red carpet and have said they'd be happy to work with each again and even start playing golf together.

    "My immediate bucket list has to do with golf, and if you play golf you know exactly what I mean," Freeman said.
    As for Nicholson's "Bucket List," he claims not to have one, because if he wants to do something, he can do it tomorrow, however he has been quoted as saying he is ready for one last big romance.

    "I can't say this because all my current girlfriends get mad at me, but we keep picking this thing up," he admitted.
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