“Invictus” (from the Latin word for unconquered), contains two fact-based stories from modern history: how South Africa, led by its first Black president, Nelson Mandela, united behind its national rugby team to win the 1995 World Cup; and of the bond forged between Mandela and team captain Francois Pienaar.

In a film based on author John Carlin’s book “Playing the Enemy,” with a screenplay by South African writer Anthony Peckham, Morgan Freeman teams for a third time with iconic director Clint Eastwood.

This time, the actor dons the mantle of one of the greatest leaders of our time, accompanied by a beefed-up Matt Damon, who portrays Pienaar as a man thrust into the spotlight in his country’s hour of need.

Four years after Mandela was released from Robben Island prison in 1990, the former head of the armed wing of the African National Congress, Umkhonto we Sizwe, preached a message of reconciliation and forgiveness.

Madiba, as Mandela is known through his honorary clan title, saw an opportunity after his election in 1994 to not only win one of the world’s biggest sporting events, but to use victory as a springboard to heal decades-old racial wounds.

Filmed entirely on location in South Africa, even using the tiny Robben Island cell where Mandela was imprisoned for 17 years, “Invictus” captures a snapshot in time that became one of the defining moments of the 20th century.

Its attention to detail is especially evident in the last third of the film, which re-creates the final match of the tournament, as the hosts faced the intimidating New Zealand team known as the “All Blacks,” due to the team’s traditional uniform.

Although most Americans will be unfamiliar with the game — it is similar enough to football, in that it’s played by large men battling for field position and trying to reach an end zone — for White Afrikaners it is a matter of life and death. It’s a reality that Mandela cleverly exploits, as the team become ambassadors for the nation, arriving in dusty townships to conduct rugby clinics and belting out the tribal hymn “Nkosi Sikilel’ iAfrika” (“God Bless Africa”) for the national anthem.

For Freeman, who recently joined Damon and Pienaar to promote the film in Los Angeles, playing the near-deity that is Mandela was pre-ordained. “This started with Madiba naming me as his heir apparent so to speak,” said Freeman.

“When Mandela was asked at the press conference for his autobiography, ‘A Long Walk to Freedom,’ who he would like to play him if it became a film, he said Morgan Freeman.”

Freeman continued: “So, from then on it was like, I am going to be Mandela somewhere down the line. We, [that is], me and my production partner, Lori McCreary at ‘Revelation Films,’ spent a lot of time trying to develop his book into a script — but couldn’t.

Then in, I believe 2006, we got this … proposal from Carlin and we thought it was perfect. We bought it, got a script written and I think the role gives the world an insight into who Mandela is and how he operates.”

The Academy Award-winning star once told Mandela that any onscreen portrayal would require personal access, and the former president was only too happy to oblige.

“Whenever we were in close proximity, like a city away, I would know about it and go to him,” said Freeman. “We would have lunch, dinner, or I would just sit with him while he was waiting to go on stage. I would hold Madiba’s hand, not [just] for the camaraderie, but because I find if I hold your hand your energy transfers and I get a sense of how you feel.”

Meanwhile, Damon, who stands five-foot-ten, recalled the calm that is a Clint Eastwood set. “I looked up Francois online and saw that he’s a huge guy, which I relayed to Clint,”

Damon explained. “‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’” replied Clint. ‘You just worry about everything else.’ ‘Okay,’ I said, ‘you worry about the fact that I need to grow six inches to play the part, and I’ll worry about everything else.’”

In a half-joking aside, Damon added: “[Eastwood] hires the best people, puts them in a position to do their best work, gets out of their way and takes the credit for their stuff.

Every now and again he gives a little bit of direction, but there’s not a lot of chatter. It’s a little suggestion here and there, and then he uses his favorite phrase: ‘Okay, let’s move on and try not to mess this up by thinking too much.’”

Freeman chimed in on Eastwood’s method: “You don’t really want to go to Clint and say ‘I’d just like to talk a little bit about the character.’ He expects you to know what you are doing and he’s going to take two giant steps back and let you do it.”

Pienaar, who later moved to England to play for a top London rugby team, said that while his country still has some raw wounds, it has come a long way since apartheid.

“If someone had sketched the scenario that in 2009 we would have had our third peaceful general election and, that in the world’s biggest financial crisis, with 40 U.S. banks going bust, the South African banking system would be stable, and in 2010 we would be hosting the soccer World Cup, I would have said I want to smoke the stuff you’re smoking,” he said.

“But it’s happening. And it’s happening in a very young democracy because we had a leader that gave us the impetus and the platform. And sport played a huge role.”