Who played Nelson Mandela in the 2009 film Invictus?

Morgan Freeman played Nelson Mandela in the 2009 film Invictus. Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film dramatizes Mandela’s relationship with the South African national rugby team during the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

The movie is based on John Carlin’s book Playing the Enemy. It focuses on Mandela’s use of the Springboks, a team strongly associated with white South Africans, as a symbol of reconciliation after apartheid.

Freeman received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for the role. The film also stars Matt Damon as rugby captain François Pienaar. Invictus is a dramatized historical film, so some scenes and dialogue are shaped for storytelling rather than presented as a complete documentary record.