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NATCHEZ — Natchez, the Hollywood of the South, for months now has been a filming destination for a new History Channel documentary, “Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman” starring Morgan Freeman. Season 1, with eight episodes, has already been released. Click here for details.

While much of Morgan Freeman’s narration has been done in a studio, rumors of the iconic voice actor’s presence in Natchez have flitted about the city.

Those rumors have been confirmed.

A social media post with Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson that Natchez Film Company shared Saturday shows the mayor awarding Morgan Freeman a Key to the City.

The tradition of presenting a Key to the City can be traced back to medieval times when the entrance to a city required permission to enter through locked gates.

Now the tradition is an honorary gesture presented to distinguished persons and honorary guests of cities.

Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman is an eight-part series from The History Channel hosted and executive produced by Morgan Freeman. History.com states the five-time Academy Award nominee and one-time Academy Award-winning actor has appeared in hundreds of films and television roles.

In the series, Freeman explores real-life prison breaks that have captured the attention of the public. Famous escapes from Alcatraz, Dannemora, Pittsburgh State Penitentiary and other locations are recreated with actors playing key roles and interviews with some of the prisoners themselves, their families, their cell mates and the guards and prison employees that tried to prevent the escapes.

The show is also hiring locals as cast members and extras. Casting notices are posted in a few spots, including the Morgan Casting Facebook Page, MyCastingFile.com and actorsaccess.com. Casting inquiries may also be emailed to castinggreatescapes@gmail.com. Extras receive $100 per day for up to a 12-hour day of work prominent roles, named characters, can be paid between $150 to $200 per day for roles that may require filming over a span of multiple days.