Morgan Freeman curtsied three times to a full house in Royce
Hall on Tuesday as he received an award for outstanding dramatic
achievement.
Freeman is the first person in five years to receive the Spencer
Tracy Award, which is presented by the UCLA Campus Events
Commission.
The award ceremony began with a montage of Tracy’s most
famous works and then moved to clips from Freeman’s
silver-screen moments.
Some of Freeman’s featured roles were in “Driving
Miss Daisy,” “Batman Begins,” “The
Shawshank Redemption” and his Oscar-winning performance in
“Million Dollar Baby.”
After the film reel, Special Events Coordinator Nish Chari and
Susie Tracy, the daughter of Spencer Tracy, presented Freeman with
the award.
The award was created in 1988 to honor Hollywood’s best
actors and pay tribute to Spencer Tracy. Past winners include
Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks and Jimmy Stewart.
After a short acceptance speech by Freeman, Robert Rosen, dean
of the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television, led a
question-and-answer period, during which students asked Freeman
about his career and various roles.
“I came for the chance to hear his voice live. …
He’s such an icon,” said Marika Stephens, a first-year
theater student. “It’s cool that the world still
respects him even though he’s older now. He’s just
very, very good at what he does.”
Responding to a question about the various positive black
characters he has played, Freeman referenced his role in
“Bruce Almighty.”
“Jesus, I don’t know how you could get better than
God,” he said jokingly.
Freeman told the audience his most challenging role was playing
Othello in a small production in Texas, and if he were able to act
with any person, he would choose Jack Nicholson.
Students were impressed by Freeman’s simple and honest
answers.
“He just came up there and basically said he acts because
he likes it and he’s good at it, and that was nice to hear as
an actor. He was nice and charming, but really kind of real about
everything,” said Jack Nicolaus, a first-year theater
student.
During the ceremony, Freeman stressed the importance of
perseverance in acting. “The best way to guarantee a loss is
to quit,” Freeman said.
Some in the campus community attended the event because they
were enthusiastic to see someone considered a screen legend in
person.
“I’m just a fan. Everyone in my family (is) a fan. I
saw him (on) the Academy Awards. … I think he’s had a very,
very strong impact on the community. His acting just extends to so
many levels. He’s very versatile,” said Sonja McClain,
an administrative assistant for university police.
After the ceremony, Freeman said though he sees no parallels
between his career and that of Spencer Tracy, he has always admired
Tracy’s work because of its simplicity.
“Acting means living, it’s all I do and all
I’m good at,” Freeman said. “If I weren’t
getting paid well, I would still be acting in a small troupe
somewhere.”
With reports from Julia Erlandson, Bruin
contributor.