Despite his advanced age, Morgan Freeman has stated that he has no plans to cease performing and retire anytime soon.

The 86-year-old was speaking ahead of the release of a new documentary film, 761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers, which tells the story of an all-black group of US soldiers who became heroes in WWII despite institutional racism from their own countrymen.

Freeman served in the United States military in the 1950s, so the subject is clearly dear to his heart, but after leaving the army, he switched careers to acting, and the rest, as they say, is history.

He’s one of the world’s biggest stars, having appeared in iconic films including The Shawshank Redemption, Invictus, The Dark Knight Trilogy, and his Oscar-winning performance in Million Dollar Baby.

But, as with all things, time passes, and despite the fact that he plainly keeps himself extremely active for an 86-year-old, Freeman has no intentions of retiring from show business anytime soon.

Despite the fact that many individuals he knows have called it a day, Freeman doesn’t appear to have given it any thought.

“Well, if I can go pedal to the metal, that’s what I’ll keep doing,” he told LADbible.

“This business will slow you down on its own; you don’t have to do it yourself.”

“You can. I have friends who have just thrown in the towel and said, ‘That’s it for me’, but I don’t see myself doing anyway in the near future.”

In the new documentary, Freeman tells the tale of the 761st Tank Battalion, known for their black panther emblem, who never expected to be deployed into action but found themselves battling throughout Europe during WWII, finally becoming heroes.

They experienced significant opposition along the way, not just from the Nazis but also from inside their own ranks.

It’s a story of triumph against oppression and prejudice, as well as unearthing some of the untold histories and stories regarding the engagement of black troops in the US armed services during that period.

It’s clear that Freeman cares about the issue, as he says, “If you want your history to be told, you’ve got to tell it yourself.”

That meant going into his own family history and discovering what happened to three members of his own family who went out to war with little to no record of what happened to them while they were there.

761st Battalion: The Original Black Panthers debuts on Sky History on Sunday, October 1 at 9 p.m. In the United States, the documentary is already accessible on History.