Morgan Freeman has revealed that he "knew early on" that he would "eventually" win an Oscar.

The 88-year-old screen icon has insisted that taking home the accolade in 2005 did little to change him.

Freeman reflected on his Academy Award in a new interview with AARP's Movies for Grownups, explaining that he had long felt the achievement was inevitable.

"I kind of knew early on that I would eventually get (an Oscar). It didn't change me," he said. "I hope it didn't change me. Because the only change you can expect after you've gotten an Oscar is maybe your price goes up a tiny bit, and your job prospects go up a bit."

"That's the one thing or two things, I guess, you could look forward to," The Shawshank Redemption actor continued. "Other than that, don't let your ego get the best of you."

Freeman won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Eddie "Scrap Iron" Dupris in the 2004 drama Million Dollar Baby, starring alongside Hilary Swank and Clint Eastwood.

Over the course of his decades-long career, he has received four further Oscar nominations: Best Supporting Actor for 1987's Street Smart; Best Actor for 1989's Driving Miss Daisy; Best Actor for 1994's The Shawshank Redemption; and Best Actor for 2009's Invictus.

Elsewhere in the interview, Freeman reflected on the films he feels best represent his more than 60 years in Hollywood.

"Driving Miss Daisy sits way up there," he commented. "And so does Invictus. Actually, I like a lot of them."

Freeman's most recent big-screen appearance was in Now You See Me: Now You Don't, released on 14 November. He also appeared in 2013's Now You See Me and 2016's Now You See Me 2.