In a touching tribute, Morgan Freeman highlighted his friend’s greatest accomplishment. The Academy Awards ceremony is an interesting event. It’s part celebration, part entertainment, and part cultural moment.

Freeman, whose friendship with Hackman spans decades, called the late actor a “giant” of the film industry in his homage.

Freeman and Hackman, who was found dead last week at the age of 95, appeared together in the 1992 western “Unforgiven.”