By Anne Halliwell

[email protected]

The man who has portrayed everything from a pimp to God took questions in the Singletary Center at 7 p.m. Monday night.

Over the course of two hours, Freeman spoke candidly about his early life, filmography and advice for the younger generation.

“You can’t escape, you know, who you are by leaving where you came from,” Freeman said.

“A Conversation with Morgan Freeman” was an onstage interview of the accomplished actor, presented by the College of Dentistry to benefit the Dr. Benjamin W. Nero and Robert H. Biggerstaff Diversity Scholarship Fund.

WKYT anchor Barbara Bailey joined Freeman onstage to pitch questions and transition into selected clips from films like “Lean on Me,” “Unforgiven,” “Million Dollar Baby” and “The Shawshank Redemption.”

Nero appeared onstage at the beginning of the program to detail his grade-school friendship with Freeman.

After sketching a brief picture of Freeman’s school years, Nero touched on Freeman’s brief stint in the Air Force and life working odd jobs and acting in New York before he landed a role in “Street Smart,” released in 1987, opposite Christopher Reeve.

Nero also referenced Freeman’s generosity in donating money to the scholarship fund in previous years. Leading up to his appearance Monday, the goal was to raise $30,000.

“I love this guy,” Nero said. “We’ve known each other for 65 years and we’ve never lost contact.”

Freeman detailed his first foray into secondary education acting — a disciplinary measure — and the rightness of being on stage.

“For those of you who don’t know, I won my first ‘Best Actor’ award there, in Mississippi,” Freeman said. “At age 12.”

The evening was punctuated with humor. Freeman mentioned that his first recognizable role was that of a pimp in “Street Smart.” Bailey pointed out that since then, he has played God (in “Bruce Almighty, 2003).

Freeman’s response: “Yes, but I got an Academy Award nomination for playing a pimp.”

The reactions to specific movie moments were tempered with reflections on acting as a career.

“Acting with other actors, particularly ones you’ve venerated … they release you,” Freeman said. “It’s not so much you’re learning, but that you’ve been released, you’ve been freed up.”

Freeman encouraged students to first know what they want to do and then to keep working toward that goal. He said that his own list of people who helped him to where he is was too long to name.

Freeman was not paid for the appearance, said Gina Ikner, marketing director for the college of dentistry earlier in the day.

Nero estimated after the event that about 800 people had attended, raising about $40,000, given the price of tickets.

“It’s ahead of my expectations here, really … he put the time in there,” Nero said. “It’s been a real plus-plus.”