James Earl Jones was given the seal of approval by Morgan Freeman to star in a Broadway version of 'Driving Miss Daisy', reports the Associated Press. 73-year-old Freeman starred in the 1989 Oscar winning film version of the play, but told the original playwright that Jones was capable of playing his role in the new production.
ALFRED UHRY, the writer of 'Driving Miss Daisy', says he spoke to Freeman about potential actors who could play his character, 'Hoke Colburn', in a new stage version, saying, "As good as Morgan was, the part wasn't written for him. The part was pretty much based on an actual person so it's not Morgan's part. I asked Morgan a year and a half ago, I said, 'What do you think?' He thought a minute, then he said, 'Jimmy can do it". Speaking about James' role in the new production, which opened in New York last night (25th October 2010), Uhry said, "He gets the music in his ears and in his mouth. And Vanessa (Redgrave) is getting more and more Georgia by the day"
Critics were unanimous in their praise for the production which will now run at the John Golden Theatre, and the New York Times wrote, "Ms Redgrave and Mr Jones calmly but forcefully grab our attention and hold it, without appearing even to try".