I can't think of a better person to play Nelson Mandela than Morgan Freeman. Not only is there a strong resemblance, but the two are friends as well, and now, it's finally happening. Freeman will play Mandela in the independent film THE HUMAN FACTOR, an adaptation of John Carlin's upcoming book The Human Factor: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed the World. The film will take place in 1995, after the fall of South African apartheid, while the country was hosting the Rugby World Cup. Mandela used the tournament as a way to unite whites and blacks, hence the 'game' in the book's title. Freeman will also produce the film under his Revelations Entertainment banner. This isn't the epic Mandela biopic I was expecting, but I suppose Freeman is too old now to travel down that road. Either way, this could be the role of a lifetime for him. Freeman just finished the Rob Reiner-directed THE BUCKET LIST, with Jack Nicholson.
Extra Tidbit:
Robert Redford originally wanted Freeman as Bagger Vance in THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE, but eventually decided to cast younger actors, which meant Will Smith.
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