When he uttered the famous last voiceover line in the beloved film The Shawshank Redemption, Morgan Freeman wasn’t so much acting as he was pulling on a heartstring of his own in hopes that it would resonate with the audience and cap a masterpiece.

“I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”

That’s because not only does Freeman admit a lifelong affinity for the sea, but he became a man near it, attaining the rank of Airman 1st Class as an Automatic Radar Repairman in the United States Air Force.

He’s also an avid sailor. Allow him to explain the interesting reason for why he wears earrings, and why he’s so enchanted with the deep blue ocean, in this snippet from an interview with The Guardian published back in 2010: