Even though Steve McQueen's new civil war film, "12 Years a Slave," is receiving near universal praise from some of Hollywood's toughest critics, actor Morgan Freeman recently told the Daily Beast why he has no interest in seeing it.
"I saw a television movie that was made a few years ago about the same character [Solomon Northup]. But I don't particularly want to see it. I don't want my anger quotient exacerbated, you know? Things are bad enough as they are. I don't want to keep punching myself in the face with it," he said, going on to reveal that on his father's side, somewhere down the line, some of his great-grandparents may have been slaves themselves.
The 76-year-old actor, whose deep and distinctive voice has become an iconic fixture in film and television (including 1994's "The Shawshank Redemption" and the beloved documentary "March of the Penguins") is a big proponent of civil rights in all forms, including when it comes to fighting discrimination against people in the LGBT community.
"I'm in show business and I'm an ex-dancer. I have an enormous number of gay friends," said the actor. "Marginalizing people for that? These people who are ignorant enough to think that being gay is a 'chosen lifestyle?' That's the height of ignorance. It's like saying being black is a chosen lifestyle. Get out of here!"
Freeman is also not a fan of the U.S. Tea Party movement, expressing his disbelief to the Daily Beast over "the lengths that people will go to to show their prejudices" while slamming the Republican party and one of its biggest supporters, Rush Limbaugh, whom he calls a "strange" person.
"You see some of these signs that say, 'TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK!'," the actor lamented to the news site. "What the f**k is that? Whose country are you talking about? They are being pushed to the side, which is a good thing for them to realize: you don't have the power you think you have in this country."
"Obama was legitimately elected president. If you don't like that, fine, either move out, or make your point and get yourself elected, but don't tear the country apart! That's not going to get you anywhere. I think the Republicans have pretty much destroyed themselves by allowing themselves to be controlled by a small contingent of people with a lot of money."
