Morgan Freeman: America's Favorite Actor and Most Popular President On Screen

Everyone has a favorite actor, but being the most popular screen performer across the entirety of the United States is something else altogether, as Morgan Freeman knows all too well. According to the most recent polling data available, Freeman is America’s favorite actor, as he has been for the past several years.

It’s unsurprising that an actor this popular should have been entrusted with portraying the highest office in the land. In fact, Morgan Freeman has played the President of the United States three times on the big screen. While none of these movies rank among Freeman’s best, they reflect his penchant for imbuing authority figures with a quiet and dignified power.

He’s also portrayed other world leaders down the years, and was even cast as God, in Bruce Almighty and its sequel. It’s no wonder that Morgan Freeman has been entrusted with such roles, given his inimitable vocal delivery and formidable screen presence. Frequently ranked among the best actors ever to have graced the screen, he’s an understated force of nature.

Morgan Freeman Is America's Favorite Actor According To Polls

When we consider the defining movies in Morgan Freeman’s career, it’s easy to see why he’s regarded as one of the best actors in cinema history. He’s also the single most popular actor in the United States, according to ongoing polling by YouGov. The pollster’s latest survey gives Freeman a popularity rating of 88%, comfortably beating second-placed Robin Williams.

From his breakthrough roles in Street Smart and Driving Miss Daisy, through his streak of masterpieces in the mid-1990s, to his 21st century highlights like Million Dollar Baby and the Dark Knight trilogy, Freeman is clearly an actor of many talents. But it’s more than his range that makes him so beloved by moviegoers.

Both Freeman’s appearance and his voice are iconic features of modern cinema, which have helped to set him apart from any other star in the minds of his audiences. Whether he’s playing hardened criminal Red in The Shawshank Redemption, or police detective William Somerset in Se7en, his screen persona is comforting, trustworthy, and immensely likable.

Freeman Has Played 3 Different U.S. Presidents During His Career

This screen persona is a key reason behind the repeat casting of Morgan Freeman as President of the United States. It all began in 1998, when he appeared as fictional president Tom Beck in Mimi Leder’s sci-fi disaster movie Deep Impact. Most famously, Freeman played Acting President Allan Trumbull in the 2013 action thriller Olympus Has Fallen.

By the third movie of the Fallen franchise, Trumbull’s position had become permanent. In 2019’s Angel Has Fallen, Freeman’s character is serving a full term as President of the United States, although whether he lives to see the end of it is another matter.

The three movies in which he’s played the U.S. president aren’t exactly Morgan Freeman’s finest moments as a movie star. Nevertheless, he’s still appeared in more feature films as president than anyone else – apart from Robin Williams, who shares his record. The two actors are apparently as close in presidential terms as they are in popularity.

Nelson Mandela Is Another World Leader Played By Freeman

The President of the United States isn’t the only world-leading office that Morgan Freeman has portrayed. He also gave one of the best performances in any Clint Eastwood movie as Nelson Mandela. In the 2009 biopic Invictus, Freeman managed to perfect an impression of Mandela’s voice, while embodying the South African President’s indomitable spirit.

In retrospect, it’s impossible to imagine anyone else doing a better job in the role. Morgan Freeman was simply made to play world leaders, apparently.