There are many great lines that movie fans associate with legendary actor Morgan Freeman, thanks to his authoritative voice that has resonated in such gems as "Glory," "Driving Miss Daisy," "Million Dollar Baby" and "March of the Penguins."

Then there's his cache of famous words from the 1994 classic "The Shawshank Redemption." Among the most powerful undoubtedly are "Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'," a bit of dialogue first said by Tim Robbins and later echoed by Freeman that could only be appropriate for "Shawshank" and "Shawshank" alone.

That is, until "The Bucket List" came along -- a film that Freeman said the line rings just as true.

"I keep telling people that to describe 'The Bucket List,' I'm going to quote another movie," Freeman said in a recent @ The Movies interview. "To me the line is the sort of thing that this movie personifies."

Now playing in select cities and opening nationwide Friday, "The Bucket List" tells the story of Carter Chambers (Freeman) and Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson), two men who have led decidedly different adult lives, but end up sharing a hospital room together when they are both diagnosed with cancer.

Eventually befriending each other, Carter (an auto mechanic) and Edward (a billionaire hospital administrator) share stories of their lives with each other during weeks of treatment, which unfortunately culminates with the news that that they are both terminally ill. So taking a page, quite literally, from Carter's philosophy class as a college freshman, the two make up a "bucket list" -- a wish list of things they want accomplish in life before they "kick the bucket."

Needless to say, it's not every day where an actor is presented a script when the leads are two terminally ill characters, and even more rare, when the film has comedic moments layered throughout. But no matter what unique challenges he had ahead of him, the decision to do the film was a no-brainer given the talent involved.

"The main thing for me was who I was going to be working with on this project," Freeman said. "My own personal bucket list included working with Rob Reiner and Jack Nicholson. I've admired Jack's work so much, dating back to 'Easy Rider' and been in love with him since 'Five Easy Pieces.'"

Reiner, who had already crossed Nicholson off of his bucket list with "A Few Good Men" in 1992, said in a separate interview that he was just as thrilled to scratch Freeman off of the list, too.

"Morgan is like a Zen master -- nothing bothers him," Reiner enthused. "No moments are ever pushed. There's no overacting. Everything he does is so simple, elegant and subtle, yet it's all so filled in. Every moment is filled in with the right emotion. He's a gift -- and to have both him and Jack together in the same movie? A director can't have a better situation."

It shouldn't come as a big surprise that Freeman took a straightforward approach when interpreting his role for "The Bucket List." Quite simply, while some method actors may have, say, treated the film as their last to get into the frame of mind of their character, Freeman said what he does all simply boils down to the demands of the script.

"I depend heavily on the writer telling me where to be, how to be and who to be," explained Freeman. "If the writer is successful in his job, then I will not have much to do than say the words."

The bonus is, the Oscar-winning Freeman said, if a script is powerful enough, that those words can also impact you in a personal sort of way -- and from "The Bucket List" came, well, a bucket-load of introspect.

"I've no doubt reflected on life more after doing this film because of my age," Freeman said. "I turned 70 on June 1. That's one of those eye-opening moments in your life when you say, 'Well, I've got a lot less time left than I've spent here.' So now I have to ask myself, 'What is it about and where do I want to go from here?'"

One place he won't be going anytime soon is retirement. And as one of the busiest actors in show business, why would he? After all, part of the point of "The Bucket List" is about finding joy -- and while Freeman says he's found plenty of it as a performer, there's plenty more to be had.

"What is the ultimate? When does it get to the point where you can't improve on it anymore?" Freeman pondered in observation of his career. "You're always striving for more."

And to anyone else striving to do the same, you can always find comfort in yet another great line by Freeman, spoken in "The Bucket List," no less: "Find the joy in your life."