An exhausted Morgan Freeman nods off during a live interview with a Seattle TV breakfast show. Courtesy: Q13 Fox News

MORGAN Freeman once described the acting game as "exhausting", but he's taken 'tired' to a whole new level after falling asleep during a live television interview.

The 75-year-old actor was being interviewed alongside Michael Caine by Seattle morning show Q13 Fox News, when Freeman nodded off as Caine waxed lyrical about their new film, Now You See Me.

As Caine spoke, Freeman closed his eyes and his head fell onto his chest, only to wake up seconds later and resume the interview.

But awkwardly the presenters never tried to rouse Freeman - and instead simply continued the interview with Caine, who seemed oblivious.

Freeman - who plays Thaddeus Bradley in the Robin Hood style heist movie - has denied grabbing forty winks during the interview.

"I wasn’t actually sleeping," he said in a statement emailed by his publicist to the Wall Street Journal. "I'm a beta tester for Google Eyelids. I was merely taking the opportunity to update my Facebook page."

Last year, Freeman told the Journal in Los Angeles that "This business, it’s exhausting."

It seems it is.