The most enjoyable part about June’s Vogue Magazine(the one with Cameron Diaz on the cover) is a wonderful little interview with Morgan Freeman. The intention of the piece is to preview Morgan’s work in general, but mostly about his role as Nelson Mandela in The Human Factor, currently being filmed in South Africa with Clint Eastwood as director. Early indications from the set indicated there were some issues – the insurance company demanded a full-time doctor to be on set in case either Morgan or Clint had health problems on the set.

Technically, this Vogue interview with Morgan was done before he left for South Africa, but the writer (John Powers) makes a note that Morgan called him from the South African set to tell him everything was going well. Freeman also talks about President Obama’s “Chicago strut” and the role that I would pay a kajillion dollars to see him play: the next Bond villain.

At 71, Morgan Freeman is Hollywood’s reigning icon of decency and preternatural calm. He’s the only actor in the world who, when he’s slumming, gets cast in the role of God. “With Him,” Freeman jokes, “you have to underplay.”

He’s about to embark on [a big challenge] – going to South Africa to produce and star in a big-budget Hollywood film about Nelson Mandela.

“If you are playing a living figure who’s revered by the world, you’ve got yourself a major, major undertaking. You’ve got to do this without embarrassing yourself, your audience, and especially Madiba [Mandela’s nickname]. Knowing that, you can be entirely too self-conscious. There are pitfalls, but I am going to be working with Clint.”

He’s referring, of course, to his good friend Clint Eastwood, who’s directing the film at Freeman’s request. “Morgan is just right for the role,” says Eastwood. “His stature in the acting world is like Mandela’s in his world.

(Eastwood’s confidence turns out to be well-founded. “Things are going fantastic here,” Freeman says, calling later from Johannesburg. “Everything has fallen into place. The thing that surprised me is how easy it’s been to adapt to being Mandela.”)

Freeman’s conversations ranges freely from his love of horses (he keeps five on his farm) to his admiration for our new president, which admits but a single qualification. “The thing I always want to tell Obama,” he says, “is ‘You can lose the Chicago strut – that little dip – and keep your hands out of your pockets.’”

Freeman knows that his own rise, like Obama’s was wildly improbable. He recalls being in L.A. half a century ago and not having a car. “There were times when I thought, This is where I’m going to be 20 or 30 years from now: walking the streets. The only thing I can say for myself is that I never sat down.”

[After] Mandela, what might this paragon take on next? “I’ve always wanted to be a James Bond villain,” Freeman says, eyes twinkling. “Bad guys have all the fun.”

[From Vogue Magazine, print edition, June]

Thinking about Morgan Freeman talking about Obama’s “Chicago strut” just kills me, I love it so much. You can tell that Morgan really feels strongly about Obama, but dagnabit, he’s still that boy’s elder, and Barack needs to take his hands out of his pockets. And stand up straight!

Regarding Morgan’s desire to play a Bond villain… will someone send this in to the Bond producers? Morgan Freeman must play a Bond villain. He would be wonderful. He sort of played a bad guy in last year’s Wanted, and after hearing him utter the words “shoot this motherf*cker”, I now want him to play a really nasty piece of work.

Barack Obama is shown on 5/20 and 5/21/09. Credit: WENN.com. Morgan Freeman is shown on 1/23/08. Credit: PRPhotos.com