The film version of John Carlin’s Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation – now titled, like the movie, Invictus – opens in South Africa on Dec 11. Ahead of the event, the Sunday Times’ Barry Ronge sat down with the director, Clint Eastwood:
I meet with Clint Eastwood at a gala at the presidential palace in Paris the day after President Nicolas Sarkozy had awarded him France’s most coveted prize, the Legion of Honour. It’s typical of Eastwood, however, that the next day he was up early to do interviews with journalists, which he does with great courtesy and minimum fuss.
He ambles into the room without an entourage, his hair tousled, wearing well-worn denims and sneakers, and shakes my hand. A pert young makeup artist bustles up, but he gives her a wry smile and says: “At my age, there’s not much you can do about this face.” And then we begin. It is a reminder that the really big stars show up on time, give you their full attention and say “Thank you for coming such a long way to see me” at the end of the interview.
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In other news, actor Morgan Freeman, who plays Mandela in Invictus, will attend the film’s premiere in South Africa:
Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman will visit South Africa to attend the local premiere for the film “Invictus,” starring Freeman as Nelson Mandela and directed by Clint Eastwood.
As part of the trip, Freeman will also support various charity initiatives around the film’s December 11th release.
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