and that's the most important thing. but i was an early bloomer and i'm a late one, you know. >> rose: that's the best,. >> absolutely. no, i cannot argue with of where i am. i am a very fortunate person. >> rose: morgan freeman and remembering dennis hopper coming up. >> funding for charlie rose has been provided by the coca-cola company. supporting this program since 2002. >> additional funding for charlie rose was also provided by these funders: >> and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia news and information services world i would captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> pore began freeman is here after starting his career in theatre, became a major motion picture star in the 1980s. he has been nominated for five academy awards. winning for his performance in clint eastwood's million dollar baby. he's also a prolific narrator. over the years his voice has told many stories. his most recent project as a science channel miniseries it is called through the wormhole. i'm pleased to have morgan freeman back at this table. welcome. >> thank you so much, charlie. >> rose: all right. first of all, you got an honorary degree from brown university. >> the president-- from ruth simons. >> rose: i love ruth simmons. >> you know her. >> rose: very well. >> but everybody got there, their diploma, their certificate and she came in before we went out. and she said i got bad news for you. i said what? >> rose: we decided done --. >> she said i want to you say something, i want to you say a few words. >> rose: oh. >> so i thought you didn't have to-- . >> rose: well, i want to you tell that story about your-- because when i was in school i went to acting school and didn't do well. >> rose: oh, that's great. so you told the story. >> yeah. >> rose: what's the story? >> well, the story is that i took acting 101 and acting 102 and i took voice diction and voice development, dance movement and a french class. and i aced everything but acting. >> rose: well did well in french but not in acting. why was that. somebody looked at you and said to talent? >> no, the-- . >> rose: you just didn't do your homework. >> the approach to acting is never set well with me. and i was sort of a-- oddball in class. this was in 1959 in los angeles. >> rose: oddball? >> oddball. >> rose: meaning. >> the only black person in class and i was very aware of it. >> rose: but did you know you had the right stuff then? >> yeah, i knew it, yeah. i mean because hi been acting since i was in grade school. >> rose: yeah. >> getting high marks for it, so that's why i was always there. >> rose: so suppose a very bright young man or woman with a good education, let's say studied french literature comes to you and says you know, i did a little bit of acting in college. i love it. it's what i want to do. and i want to go to business school, i don't want to go to law school, or be an engineer. i want to be an actor. you say to them -- >> be an actor. >> rose: be an actor. that's exactly right. >> i have people sometimes have come up and say you know, my son is 13, 14. and he wants to be an actor but you know, i tell him-- them they should get a degree in something before, so that they don't make it, they have something to fall back on. if they have something to fall back on the fall back position is the one they are going to be in. >> rose: the other thing they love is for people who say they want to be a writer rather than saying i want to write. >> or i am a writer. i tell them right away, you say you want to act, you are an actor. >> you know, you can tell something about an artist or an artisan by the way they handle their instruments. to a watch to a watchmaker. notice that, how they-- . >> rose: i remember the chess player, won the world champions chess players brought in a board and you could just watch his hands. almost like there was something going on between the chess pieces in his hands. you could feel the magic of the weight. >> yeah, yeah, we have that. there is you, charlie. >> rose: what? >> you have the same quality. you sit at this table and you talk to people. and you have such authority, such quiet authority. you're so great. >> rose: well, thank you. now tell me about science, thank you very much, coming from you. science, this is-- man this is all about what? ness. >> the physics of the cosmos. >> rose: how did you get to do-- what lead to you do this? >> i have always been a reader. i started reading-- a library card at age 8. and in that reading, over the span of time a lot of it was science fiction, science fantasy, science fact. i was fascinated by-- i was a good physics institute. and i only had physics for a few minutes in high school. but was really galvanized by it. and now we are at a point in our development as humans where we have literally stepped off the planet. we're back at columbus times. the world really isn't flat. and we can really go, we can travel around it. it's pretty of the same. we are the same threshold, i think, in space. you know, we have a probe that is way out past the limit its of the solar system. we are out there. >> rose: we are listening and we're also sending. >> we are listening and sending and it's talking to us. we are actually camped near the planet saturn watching things develop. so all of this is happening right now and the fascinating thing is okay, so what, what's in the future. what can we do? and my answer to that is we can do anything we decide to do. interesting about the human mind is anything we think of, anything we think of we will eventually do. >> stephen: . >> rose: somebody once said if you can imagine it, you can achieve it. >> exactly. if we can imagine it, we can achieve it. so let's talk for one minute about space travel. well, the differences are really too great. the nearest stars are like 8 what lightwaves, the alpha sentori. 8 light-years, that means you have to attain the speed of light in order to make it there in 8 years. but einstein says no. space time is like fabric. it can actually be manipulated. you can bend it so that you can go from here to here in space time in that amount of time. so. >> rose: so space travel, time travel. >> time travel. >> rose: is an idea that's real. >> it's an idea that is actually real but it requires an enormous, an enormous amount of energy so we have to figure out how we're going to do that, where the energy is going to come from. >> rose: now they say it will mostly be traveling ahead or back, what are they saying. >> you can do it both ways. >> rose: wow. >> now we think because light coming here, we see light from billions of miles away now. we have a kevlar probe, a satellite up there watching. because we're looking for planet its now. so we have this very light sensitive probe up there looking. so we are looking at light that's coming from billions of miles away. light-years, billions of light-years away. meaning that when we see it, it's ancient, right? >> rose: so these are the kind of things you explore on this series. >> these are the kind of questions we ask and discuss. >> rose: and you start with the one which is the big one, is there a creator. >> yeah, yeah. >> rose: now how do you do that? >> you know, it's a question that has been extent since galileo. and galileo posits that the earth is not the center of the universe, well, if the earth is not the center of the universe it sort of goes against what we consider as god's law, you know, god created heavens and earth, blah, blah, blah. scientists say well, that can't-- we can't accept that not really in any kind of literal sense because we know that the universal is a lot older than that. so the question for us as human beings is there one. if there is one, who, what is it. and a lot of different scientists and physicists have very concrete ideas about what it could be. one interestingly enough is that the whole thing is a giant, we're all in a giant computer. and we're just pixels being manipulated. that's, i mean, a sound mind. >> stephen: most of the scientists i know don't believe in -- >> in the metaphysical. >> rose: god. >> god. >> rose: there may be-- there is something in terms of a spirit or there is something in terms-- but they don't believe and they accept the fact that the only way you can, that is because they're scientists and if you can't prove it they say -- >> you can't accept it, right. >> pirro: . >> rose: people like francis colin who is in your piece, i think, say something different. which is i'm a scientist. i believe because of fate and i look at the reality of it and say -- >> yeah, some of those same scientists look out there and they say there is too much order for it to be just random. >> couldn't have just happened. >> rose: there is also the big bang theory and then there is the-- . >> superglider. >> rose: on the border of switzerland and france. and they have been building this thing. and it's interesting, we have done a whole show about this. >> uh-huh. >> rose: on this program. but it will take us back in time to right, the moment after the big bang. >> a split second after the big bang. >> rose: and what will we learn from that? >> interestingly enough, we'll learn that there is such a thing as met a fisks. that is quantum mechanics. that-- and these supercolliders you watch matter actually appear from nowhere and disappear into mo where. -- nowhere. >> rose: this is you talking about it in this series. >> in the cooler but no less scenic city of geneva, switzerland research evers are peering through the most advanced microscope in history, the lhc or large hedron collider. they're throwing everything they can at the finding the particle that is supposed to give everything mass. but they should also be able to detect some of those new particles predicted by gary-- if they do exist, the exceptionally simple theory of everything could finally offer a blueprint of the entire universe. this dizzying geometry might also be divine geometry. a unified mass that created you, me, the sun, the stars, everything in the known universe. >> rose: we're watching this and we hear the words, theory of everything, which used to be an obsession of stephen hawking. he is in new york. >> a world science festival. >> rose: and he they are doing a big thing with the symphony by philip glass and others. >> yeah. >> rose: and you met him. >> he was in the dining room. we were having breakfast. and i asked if i could just come over and say hey. he came over to me. >> rose: of course we. >> yeah. and we had a brief encounter. >> rose: he's amazing. >> he is amazing. >> rose: because you've talked to him, you have to prepare the questions because of the difficulty of -- >> i talked to him but i cannot read-- he can write, you know, he has a very clever system with the-- . >> rose: he controls it with his face. >> yeah, but i just lay out things to him. and so he said that he would love to talk with me later at some point, you know. because i said i'm going to have questions. >> rose: yeah, he's amazing. he is really amazing. generally his daughter is with him. and -- >> nicky. >> rose: i have forgotten. we went to cambridge to meet him. >> extraordinary. you really love this stuff. i mean you really, i mean i didn't know coming into this how much preparation you had done. in terms of curiosity about science, you know, rather than simply understanding what you were going to do. but you are invested in this. i mean you are engaged by this. you are interested in this. >> i'm interested. i'm engaged. you know, you have your own questions. and they're legitimate questions. so you can ask them. somebody asked me on the internet, i was doing an interview just awhile ago at npr, do you-- are you a-- i don't know how she put it but she wanted to know if i had a faith, you know. i said oh, yes. everybody has a faith in something, you know. and mine runs deep. i won't tell them what it's in, what it's about. >> rose: why not. >> i'm very arrogant. >> rose: well, just tell us. >> i believe in me. >> rose: yeah. >> that's not arrogant. >> i think it's arrogant. people go do you believe in god. >> i go absolutely. >> rose: and i'm god. >> and i'm god, in the best sense of the word. >> rose: that's what you believe. >> that's what i believe. >> rose: that i am responsible for my life. >> yes, yes, yes. i can't lay it off on anybody but-- . >> rose: but that responsibility is shaped by a whole range of things that have come to you over a lifetime. >> absolutely. >> rose: as to what it is that you believe is quality, what you believe is the act of a good person, what you believe is your obligation, responsibility, duty, citizenship, you know, parent. >> yeah, all-- what is said by everyone is that god is in everything. certainly in all of us. so well, if it is, then how do you separate yourself. >> rose: now how many of these, ten of these? the creator, one about -- >> what are the other questions you ask. >> is there a creator? is time-- is space travel possible? >> rose: the answer o to that is yes. when we have the energy we'll show you. >> right. what is dark matter. >> rose: particle physics. >> yeah. we try to explain cuan quantum mechanics. >> rose: that's not easy. >> that's not easy. really deep, deep questions. >> rose: and this is going to be a two year project. >> right now it's two years. >> rose: at least two years. >> at least two years. >> rose: because there are so many questions ask you can ask. these are the kind of things that people are fascinated about. >> and you can go back and revisit because we are learn stuff so quickly, so fast. >> rose: so you went out with filmmakers and they talked to the best people in the world on all these particular subjects. >> exactly, yeah. >> rose: that's great. >> everybody who has an idea or thought process. >> rose: tell us about the title. >> "through the wormhole" somebody came up with that theory that there are places in space where you can sort of enter another dimension, exactly what they really mean is you can travel through space time. you just go through a wormhole and you're there. sort of like blinking. >> rose: you know i am fascinated about this is the late michael cryton. he loved these kind of things. >> he did. and i think he might have been one of those who came up about the idea of the wormhole. >> rose: oh s that right. >> don't quote me. >> rose: i know, but it is the kind of thing-- i mean michael was just amazing. the only thing i never could come to grips with is how he did not accept climate change at all. >> i'm concerned about the question of global warming. >> rose: yeah. >> we are involved in this instance of it. but warming and cooling has happened over millennia to the earth. we had an ice age what happened when it melted. why did it melt. >> rose: my scientist friends will tell you that, you know, they look at the polar ice cap now and they see it melting and they can see where there is, you know, dramatic differences. >> yeah. >> rose: on the other hand, you know -- >> well, i don't-- i'm not one to question the danger of what is going on right now because we're so involved in the speed of it, the depth i guess is the word i'm looking for. >> rose: the great pore began freeman. thank you for joining us. we'll be right back. >> rose: dennis hopper, a man of many talents, actor, photographer and art collector died on saturday of complications from prostate cancer. dennis hopper was 74 years old. his paranoid and manic characters helped define the 1960s counterculture. in 196 -- he wrote and directed the seminal film "easy rider" in which he also starred as a motorcycle riding hip ster. easy rider cemented his status as a risk-taker and a rebel. his unscreened excentricitys often mirrored conflicts in his own personal life. during the 1970s his struggles with alcoholism and addiction often threatened to derail his career. but his bad boy reputation masked tremendous crass and ambition. he became sober in the 1980s and he turned into one of the most successful character actors in hollywood. he played villains in david lynch's blue vel set and in the 1993 blockbuster speed. hopper also exsell at pursuits beyond the movies. as we noted photography that he did was shown around the world and is collected in a book called "1712 north crescent heights" with a terrific eye for modern art he amassed a multimillion dollar collection by artists such as andy warhol and julian snobel. 's priored on my program three timesed. and here's a look of some of those appearances. >> you and i share at least two things. one, i loved "easy rider" and the other thing is that we both lived part-time in north carolina. you in wilmington and i have a little farm in oxford. >> i didn't know that. >> rose: yeah. >> i didn't know that you were there. oh, that's terrific. >> rose: how in the world did dennis hopper, actor, world traveler end up in my home state? >> wow. well, first of all i didn't put that together until just now. okay, well wilmington, you know, is the largest producer of films in the united states, second only to los angeles. they make more films in will am ton than they do in new york. >> rose: is that right. >> yeah, they made over 80 movies in the last four years. >> rose: and you went there to make a movie. >> i made three movies there. my first movie i made there was blue velvet, david lynch's movie and then i made supermario brothers, way was down there for 17 weeks. that's when i got in trouble and had a lot of time off and bought a building. i bought an old masonic temple, five stories high. it was going to be torn down and i bought it for $150,000 dollars. >> rose: and spent 150 million -- >> oh, yeah. i spent a million dollars just getting the pigeons out and getting the roof fixed. >> rose: is this the place that you are going to teach acting. >> i would like to have an acting school there, yeah. >> rose: why do you want to do that? >> well, i just, you know, i-- straussberg was a great teacher and i feel that-- i just want to teach method, straussbergien acting. sense memory and emotional memory. it is a little payback. >> rose: did dean turn on to method acting? >> well, actually, we all saw brando, dean saw brando, i saw brando,. >> rose: dean was in love with brando. >> oh, yeah. >> rose: trying to copy him, living in his-- but you. >> well, i mean i was in love with brando too. we all were. then at 18 i was doing giant with, i was doing world without a cause and then "giant" with dean and watching him work. and i realized i had come out of a very stiff kind of formal background of playing shakespeare. by the time i was 13 to 18 i had played shakespeare at the gold globe these never san diego. so when i saw dean and rebel without a cause, i mean, what he was doing was certainly not on the written page. i was doing great line readings and i was doing, you know, had memorized my gestures. everything a was doing was preconceived even though it looked very natural. between was-- dean was doing things in improvising things and just creating things that had nothing to do with the written page. and at this wanted to know what he was doing. and how i could find out. >> rose: did his death, i mean were you close enough so that when he died in that car crash that it had an impact on you. >> oh, yeah, well, we were am the middle-- we hadn't finished "giant" yet, i was still working on it he had finally-- at the gyning of "giant" he took his money from "giant", 17,000 dollars and bought a porsche spider. but stevens wouldn't let him drive it during the shooting. so we were two weeks before finishing shooting and he had a race and he wanted to be in. and stevens said okay, you can go ahead and do it. so jimmy went up to race and got to racing his new porsche in this race and he was killed on the way to the race. in an accident, i mean