Some scary news emerged yesterday when one of the most well-liked actors of our time, Morgan Freeman, was involved in a serious car accident in north Mississippi. The 71-year-old actor was driving on a rural road with a female passenger when the car went off the road and he overcompensated, flipping the vehicle several times before landing in a ditch. He had to be extracted using the jaws of life, and was airlifted to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee. Despite the dramatic nature of the crash, he was said to be conscious and in good spirits, even joking with some of the rescue workers on the scene. His injuries include “a broken arm, broken elbow and minor shoulder damage”, but they are not life-threatening. His passenger’s status is currently unknown.

This is certainly not something you’d expect to hear about someone so respected and down to earth, but unlike the Shia LaBeouf accident last week, there is no dirt to dig up here. Alcohol is not believed to have been a factor, and it just appears to have been a freak occurrence. Freeman is said to be looking at a recovery time of 6 to 8 weeks. It is not known if this will push back shooting schedules for any of his upcoming films. Among the movies he will be starring in next are Clint Eastwood’s The Human Factor (in which Freeman will portray Nelson Mandela) and David Fincher’s Rendezvous with Rama, based on the novel by Arthur C. Clarke.