Daily Inspiration Quote by Morgan Freeman

"The reason actors, artists, writers have agents is because we'll do it for nothing. That's a basic fact - you gotta do it"

Morgan Freeman, Actor

About this Quote

Freeman’s line lands like a laugh and a warning: the glamorous image of the artist is built on a labor market that quietly expects surrender. The joke is brutal in its simplicity. Of course “we’ll do it for nothing” is hyperbole, but it’s also a truth artists recognize in their bones: the work itself is intoxicating, and that passion gets treated as a negotiable commodity.

The intent is pragmatic, almost parental. Freeman isn’t romanticizing hunger-artist mythology; he’s explaining why representation exists. An agent isn’t just a deal-closer, they’re a paid boundary. In industries where creative people are trained to chase validation, access, and “exposure,” someone has to play the role the artist can’t convincingly play without feeling crass: the person who says no, names a price, and insists on terms.

The subtext is about power asymmetry. Casting directors, studios, publishers, galleries - they thrive on an oversupply of talent willing to trade wages for proximity to the dream. Freeman punctures the fantasy that merit alone sets your value. The market sets it, and the market is happy to let you undercut yourself.

Context matters: coming from a long-career, bankable actor, it reads less like bitterness and more like hard-earned fluency. It’s a reminder that loving the work doesn’t protect you from exploitation; it can invite it. “You gotta do it” isn’t about selling out. It’s about staying in the game without being used up by it.

Quote Details

Topic	Career
Source	Help us find the source
Cite

More Quotes by Morgan Add to List

About the Author

Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is a Actor from USA.

49 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes

"An agent is a person who is sore because an actor gets 90% of what they make"

Elton John, Musician

"Being a star is an agent's dream, not an actor's"

Robert Duvall, Actor

Robert Duvall

"As an actress, you're already disregarded for a lot of the parts by the people who are setting up those shows. You don't need your agent to be doing the same"

Tia Carrere, Actress

"It's important to have the right agent - people that are working hard for you. But an actor needs to be in control of their career no matter how good the representation is"

Joel McHale, Comedian

"An artist can go paint, and a writer can go write, but an actor needs to get hired, needs somebody to say, 'Here, come and do this,' that's the hard part"

John Glover, Actor

"It's kind of interesting to be a director who is all of a sudden being an actor playing an agent. This is my whole world!"

Mark Rydell, Director

"Agents and producers have to get you into a box to accommodate their limited imaginations"

Imelda Staunton, Actress

"Actors have to be there and do the work, and that's enough"

Catherine Deneuve, Actress

Catherine Deneuve

"Agents are still asking for millions of dollars for actors that don't sell one ticket"

Uwe Boll, Director

"Nowadays, in the contract that actors sign, you have to agree that you're going to do a certain amount of publicity-the hard part they don't pay you for"

Jeff Bridges, Actor

"Contrary to what many writers imply about the process, nobody forces a writer to sell his work to the film industry"

Thomas Perry, Musician

"As actors, the thing we have to fight, more than even the business part of making movies, is boredom"

Linda Fiorentino, Actress

"I think that you can't make a movie without a script. But you also can't make movies without actors. You also can't make movies without technicians. And there has to be just one person in charge of everybody, and to me that one person is the director"

John Frankenheimer, Director

"Seems to me that this business, for actors anyway, is not so much about whether or not you do good work. It's about whether or not you get the chance to do good work"

Hugh Laurie, Comedian

"I knew what book we had to write; it was clear in my head; it was journals and poetry. So I passed on their offer. I told my agent this is our vision, and no one's done it this way"

Kenny Loggins, Musician

"Once you've gotten the job, there's nothing to it. If you're an actor, you're an actor. Doing it is not the hard part. The hard part is getting to do it!"

Morgan Freeman, Actor

Morgan Freeman

"The thing is, the studio then forget that you're an actor and that you can do other things, and so since they pay you for that, they don't want you to do anything else"

Charles S. Dutton, Actor

"Because technically actors are just public servants, really. They just tell stories because people need to be told stories. That's all it is. And yet we get treated as though we're important!"

James McAvoy, Actor

"I don't hang out with agents and producers, and I'm not into the business side at all"

Winona Ryder, Actress

"It's difficult working with very rich actors, because inevitably they become a little spoilt, and the managers and agents tend to control things more than is healthy"

Mike Figgis, Director