Top Actor Morgan Freeman said "He already play as the president of the United States and he's played God twice, but that was nothing compared with the challenge of becoming Nelson Mandela".
"Mandela, you really have to know him," Freeman told CNN of his new role in Clint Eastwood's latest film "Invictus."
Freeman plays South Africa's first black president in the film and was recently nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal.
"When you meet Mandela, you know you are in the presence of greatness. It is something that just emanates from him," he has said of the former South African leader.
The Oscar winner has lent his quiet authority to a number of acclaimed movies over the years, "Million Dollar Baby" and "The Shawshank Redemption" among them.
In "Invictus" he brings that screen presence to the start of Mandela's presidency, as he attempts to unite a bitterly divided post-apartheid South Africa in the run-up to the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Capturing Mandela wasn't easy, Freeman told CNN: "You have to have watched him -- closely. Walk, talk, nuances of character, things like that," he explained.
Freeman researched his role by watching videotapes of the leader greeting people, talking to his staff, seeing how he dealt with different parts of his life, both public and personal.
As far as those close to Mandela are concerned, Freeman's hard work has paid off: "Everybody was over the moon about it -- his personal secretary, his wife [Graca Michel], his ex-wife [Winnie], his daughter, Zindzi, his grandson. They all said, 'You did it. That was wonderful,'" he said.
Even so, Freeman said he was "concerned" as he sat with the iconic leader, now 91 years old, to watch the film.
"I was sitting right next to him. He pointed at the screen and said 'I know that fella.' So, yeah, I think he liked it."
Freeman's relationship with Mandela goes back to 1994 when the leader named him as the actor he'd like to play him in a movie at a press conference for his memoir "Long Walk to Freedom."
"It sounds arrogant, but my thinking was, "Of course. Who else?" and I can do it. I know I can do it," Morgan Freeman told CNN. With this in mind, he bought the film rights to Mandela's memoir.
Morgan Freeman told Nelson Mandela that in order to do the part justice, they would have to spend time together.
Since then, the pair have met up in different parts of the world over the years, Morgan Freeman said.
Morgan Freeman spent years unsuccessfully trying to work Nelson Mandela's long memoir into a film.
source : CNN
