Morgan Freeman Talks ‘Dolphin Tale 2’Posted by Wilson Morales
September 11, 2014
Coming out this week is Dolphin Tale 2, the sequel to the 2011 hit family drama that stars Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr., Morgan Freeman, Nathan Gamble, and Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Kris Kristofferson, Austin Stowell, and Austin Highsmith.
Written and directed by Charles Martin Smith, the whole cast is back along with newcomer Bethany Hamilton.
It has been several years since young Sawyer Nelson (Gamble) and the dedicated team at the Clearwater Marine Hospital, headed by Dr. Clay Haskett (Connick, Jr.), rescued Winter. With the help of Dr. Cameron McCarthy (Freeman), who developed a unique prosthetic tail for the injured dolphin, they were able to save her life. Yet their fight is not over. Winter’s surrogate mother, the very elderly dolphin Panama, has passed away, leaving Winter without the only poolmate she has ever known. However, the loss of Panama may have even greater repercussions for Winter, who, according to USDA regulations, cannot be housed alone, as dolphins’ social behavior requires them to be paired with other dolphins. Time is running out to find a companion for her before the team at Clearwater loses their beloved Winter to another aquarium.
Last December, Blackfilm.com went down to Clearwater, Florida on a set visit and spoke with Freeman about his return in the film, working with Winter, and his relationship with the late Nelson Mandela, who had passed away days before this interview.
So what was your first re-encounter with Winter like? Did she remember you?
MORGAN FREEMAN: Apparently that dolphin remembers, because now I walk up to the pool and she’s like, “Hey, don’t we know each other?” She opens her mouth and I get it, ’cause I had my hands on her last time and I have a good touch. Nice touch.
Can you tell us about your character in this film? Is there another side of him you get to explore in the sequel?
FREEMAN: My character is sort of an irrascable guy. He creates prosthesis and in the last one the kid comes to him and tells him to look at this dolphin and he gets intrigued with the whole idea to make a prosthetic tale for a dolphin. Now he’s all wrapped up in it, he’s very concerned about what happens with “this fish” as he calls her. Lorraine says, “She’s not a fish!” He says, “Look, if it looks like a fish and smells like a fish…”
Since you play a prosthetic designer did you get a chance to meet with wounded people to prepare for the role?
FREEMAN: No. The only thing I have to do to prepare for a role like this is learn the script. So that’s about all I do. I met the real doctor who did actually design the original prosthetic. I have a wonky arm, he has a wonky leg, he’d been walking around on this prosthetic leg for about 30-years. We have that much in common. The fingers are paralyzed on this hand, but I got all this pain, fibromyalgic pain. He says the same thing, that he gets phantom pain. He’s amputated at the knee but he feels his foot. It hurts.
Is your character enhancing Winter’s prosthetic in this film?
FREEMAN: He’s got a new one, more streamlined, probably going to be much more effective for Winter to get it so she enjoys wearing it rather than taking it as, “Damn, I gotta put this thing on?” (laughs)
Did you ever think you’d be reprising this role after the first one did so well?
FREEMAN: You never think that, it’s always a wonderful surprise to say we’re gonna do it again ’cause it did well. That’s fine, all for it.
What’s your day on set like?
FREEMAN: Have you seen any of the shooting? It’s a very repetitive day. When you shoot a scene, if it’s got more than one person in it, you have to cover each person, sometimes you get two. It’s a lot of moving around so anyone who has anything to say is on camera to say it. You don’t move them around, you move the set around, you have to change the lighting, all that stuff. You do it over and over and over. I take it as rehearsal time.
How long to do one scene?
FREEMAN: It depends. Some directors shoot a lot so that they have a lot of choices to make when they get into editing. Other directors know what they want and how they’re gonna edit it. They’ve got a lot of stuff going on ahead of time, Charles Martin Smith is one of those, so he’ll only shoot 2, 3, 4 takes at the most and you’re moving along. A lot more fun.
After shooting “Dolphin Tale 2” do you still eat fish?
FREEMAN: I have had to cut back on the amount of fish I eat. I used to be a fish eater and would only eat red meat maybe once or twice a week. Now I’ve had all these tests and it turns out my mercury levels are dangerously high, so I’ve been taken off all deep sea fish altogether, and I can only eat freshwater fish once or twice a week. I have to find something else. I like chicken but it’s full of hormones. Red meat too. If you can find grassfed beef eat it. They put cattle in feed lots. They feed ’em the wrong kind of stuff, corn, steroids.
Could you comment on the passing of Nelson Mandela?
FREEMAN: I got to meet him in the ’90s because I was original scheduled to do his book “The Long Walk to Freedom.” So we became friends over the period of years we were developing. Ultimately I didn’t do it, but we did “Invictus,” another story about him, but during that whole period we became rather close. I told him when I met him that if I was gonna play him I need accents, and be close enough to hold his hand. He said, “That’s fine.” There we were. I’ve known for the past three months that he was on his way out. The first time he had pneumonia he was in the hospital, a brother was asking about him, I said, “I think he’s just negotiating his pass.” He probably got what he wanted before he left, which is what he usually does. This was a life that will go on. We will always remember, always, I don’t think anybody will ever forget him.
