Featured Image Credit: Toni Anne Barson Archive/WireImage/Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/getty
Topics: Morgan Freeman, Celebrity, Weird
Olivia Burke
Topics: Morgan Freeman, Celebrity, Weird
Most of us pop in our earrings each day to spice up our look while adding a bit of sparkle on either side of our face.
Morgan Freeman may be an A-lister but he is no different to the rest of us and is never seen without his trademark gold hoops.
But the legendary actor isn't just making a fashion statement with his jewellery - there's a much more macabre reason.
He explained that he is constantly asked why he has clung onto his beloved hoops since before he shot to Hollywood stardom.
It turns out Freeman wants to be ready for any eventuality, so he carries two security blankets on both his ear lobes each day.
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The Shawshank Redemption star revealed the reason why he won't leave the house without his gold hoops in an Instagram post a while back.
The 86-year-old explained: "These earrings. I get asked all the time about them. The truth is, these are worth just enough for someone to buy me a coffin if I die in a strange place.
"That's why sailors used to wear them and that's why I do. Now you know."
Apparently, if a seafarer wore silver or gold earrings and their body washed ashore, the jewellery would be enough to cover the cost of a funeral.
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Some seamen even engraved their name of their home port on the inside of the earring in the hopes they could be returned to their loved ones.
If a man died on a ship, the accessory would help cover the cost of transporting his body home too.
Freeman said he fancies himself as a 'sailor' while chatting to Fox back in 2016.
He explained: "When I was a kid, I saw a pirate movie with Burt Lancaster, who wore an earring. I thought that was sexy.
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"Then I learned that sailors wore gold earrings to pay for funerals if they died in foreign lands. I'm a sailor, so that nailed it."
The father-of-four also described feeling an 'attachment to the sea' in an interview with the Guardian.
Freeman said: "I always wanted an earring. It has to do with my attachment to the sea.
"When I was around 35 I was separated from my wife and she said, 'I'm going to pierce your ear.' I'm an avid sailor, a dyed-in-the-wool blue-water man."
Although we can't imagine a world without Freeman acting, the star didn't get his big break until he was 49 years old.
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His role as the fearsome pimp Fast Black in 1987's Street Smart catapulted him to stardom and earned him an Oscar nomination.
The actor then went on to star in slew of hit movies, including Bruce Almighty, Se7en and Million Dollar Baby.