Door invite me in so we can go back and play pretend im on deck yeah im up next tonight im high as a private jet yeah yeah lets be alone together we could stay Young Forever scream it from the top of your lungs say yeah yeah lets be alone together we could stay Young Forever well stay Young Young Young young young i dont know where youre going but do you got room for one more troubled soul i dont know where im going but i dont think im coming home and i said ill check in tomorrow oh oh oh oh oh oh if i dont wake up dead this is the road to ruin and wetarted at the end tonight on nightline for the ages. From Nelson Mandelas epic struggle to his long walk to freedom. Nightline was there every step of the way. Tonight, Nelson Mandela. Tonight the Freedom Fighter you may not know. You were a good boxer . Well, i do not know, that is the hardest to say. I am leading man. What do ebri alba, morgan freeman, danny glover, and sydney portier have in common . They all played Nelson Mandela on the big screen. And this boys courageous journey inspired Nelson Mandela, and enkozi johnson, packed arenas and captured a nations heart with his simple message. We are all the same. Announcer good evening. Thank you for joining us. Tonight, we bring you a different kind of story about Nelson Mandela who died yesterday at 95. It is already saturday morning in south africa, and overnight his flagdraped coffin began its journey back to his ancestral home to be buried. But long before he became a global father figure, when mandela was locked for decades in a prison cell, a loan l lone voice, protesting brutal racial policies. This broadcast made a commitment to cover his struggle when few others were. Nightline has been there every step of the way on his long walk to freedom. Heres abcs john donvan with our story. In the epic that is the story of Nelson Mandela as south africa, a small but important chapter happened to have been played by an American News program. This one, nightline. On a february afternoon in 1990, tv stations everywhere across the globe really, everywhere, held this single live totally uninteresting shot on and off for close to an hour. Because everyone was waiting, finally to see this. This distant figure. Nelson mandela. A man who not been photographed in nearly three decades. Finally walking free from prison. Waiting there to nlts strinterv ted koppel. We told me, so was everyone else to interview Nelson Mandela. No one had an appointment. Everyone rented a house across the street from Winnie Mandelas home in soweto, and there we were with our binoculars, sitting there. He is here yement. He isnt here yet. Which one of us will be invited to come over and do the interview . Dan rather was over there. In fact i know dan well. Dan beat me. He was there first. I was there second. This is abc news nightline, reporting from south africa. Second maybe. Tonight we have only one s s guest. Nelson mandela. First to come to earth on the broadcast, the opening question went not to politics race or the future but to sports. He was surprised the other night with tyson . Yes, very much surprised. I took it for granted that he would win. So did he. You went right to the boxing question. I did. What was your plan . I want to hit him with a question he really wasnt expecting. Did you ever think of turning pro, turning professionally . No, never did. You were a good boxer . Well i do not know. That its for others to say. Nelson mandela was never an easy man to loosen up. Long enough aago. Did mandela loosen in the interview . A little. Not really. Even talking basics like the prison food. Live on it in the morning. For lunch, and millis pop. A millis ground and cooked. Like porridge . Yes. Like porridge. And they cook it in prison. Very bad in those days. The preparation of the food left very much to be desired. In that, mandela, maintained a rectitude in language, gesture and posture that set him at a distance. Your time with him was rather formal. Nelson mandela was not some one who was going to be my buddy. And he wasnt going to let me be his buddy. Yet mandela in subsequent years, rarely perhaps, never said no. When ted invited him to be on nightline. That willingness, ted is certain, stems from a history making week of nightline in south africa in the 1980s. South africa is changing. We said we will only do this series of programs, we will only come to south africa if members of the white government agree to engage in dialogue on the air. Which never happened on their own television . Which never hap fepened on tr own television if you dialogue with black leaders. We had an owe skaccasion with t South African foreign minister appeared live on television in the United States with then Bishop Desmond tutu. It was an extraordinary moment. Did you think it was possible . If degradation, and dehumanizing. Then i will stand against apartheid. It was rebroadcast the next day in south africa. On the South African broadcasting company. And the impact was huge. Absolutely enormous. It all happened when mandela was at that point in his 23rd year of imprisonment. Ted says in an important way. Mandela was there. Mandela was in every exchange. We could not have done what we did in south africa had it not been for for mandela. In what way . In the sense that mandela exerted such moral suasion. The shows the also made a connection. The door with mandela was opponenten for y efor you becau week you did. He heard and knew what we had done. Thed had a moment with mandea years later at a town meeting in the United States. I interrupted him and was going to Say Something else. And then he i thought was going to jump in and Say Something. So, i paused. And he said Something Like i dont know if i largely africanamerican crowd, at the town meeting, loved it. You know, here is the white anchor getting it right in the chops from the man himself. It was a great moment for him, for them, and not as the great for me. Now a great story to tell. Yeah. No they were not buddies. But for maybe a brief moment. They were both part of the story. Something journalists are supposed to try not to be but some times it cannot be helped. We dont get the opportunity very often to really make a difference. I think our programs in south africa made a difference. And of course, our coverage of Nelson Mandelas life and enduring legacy continues. Up next for us, mandelas epic story, often portrayed on the silver screen. The secrets of playing the legend from the men who know. They can see the light of a single candle. Your eyes are amazing. Look after them with centrum silver. Multivitamins with lutein and vitamins a, c, and e to support healthy eyes and packed with key nutrients to support your heart and brain, too. Centrum silver. For the most amazing parts of you. Centrum silver. Every day were working to and to keep our commitments. And weve made a big commitment to america. Bp supports nearly 250,000 jobs here. Through all of our energy operations, we invest more in the u. S. Than any other place in the world. In fact, weve invested over 55 billion here in the last five years making bp americas Largest Energy investor. Our commitment has never been stronger. [ coughs ] [ male announcer ] you cant let a cold keep you up tonight. Vicks nyquil powerful nighttime 6symptom cold flu relief. Nelson mandelas life played out like a motion picture. Born into royalty, a revolutionary who endured 27 years in prison, triumphing over injustice to lead his nation out of the dark chapter of apartheid. His charisma, humility and generosity of spirit are nothing short of legendary. So what does it take to portray a legend onscreen . Here is abcs chris connolly. We dont have rights. We dont have Justice Trust hollywood to recognize a true story of heroism when it sees one. And to do it again and again. In the life of every nation when there are two choices. Submit. Or night reporter with Nelson Mandela portrayed by idris elba, brings mandela to full hero ii iic sta. We talk about responsibility. Thats that avenue one s on things i had to Pay Attention to. We were to go ahead and make that as real as possible on the screen. As he schlepplept in mandela cell, he pondered how a man of intelligence and physical power may emerge with strengthened capacity for leadership and forgiveness. I spent a night, i needed context, perspective. You and i would never know what it is to not have freedom until it is taken away. In the morning i was angry, man, the injustice. Mandela spent 19 years in that one room. It is mandelas struggle and the extra ordinary individual who d victorious from it, that led hollywood to address mandelas storien so may ein so. Hollywood embraced nelson man dell lash mandela, the sacrifices, where he was able to take the country out of prison. A rare story. Very dramatic. Personally so, many people in hollywood felt, drawn to him. Each approach mandela as if theyre playing somebody, a star in his own right. They bring all their own strengths to it. Sydney poitier, in mandela and de klerk. No watch would be comfortable in a country dominated. In more than 300 years. You have been dominated. 24s, dennis haysworth. In goodbye, focusing on mandelas relationship with his white jailer. You and i could live peacefully. Terrence howard onscreen alongside Jennifer Hudson in winnie mandela. Morgan freeman. This is the time to build our nation in Clint Eastwoods invictus. Showing a mandela in office. I would look to thank you for what you have done for our country. Mr. President , thank you for what you have done for our country. Reporter looking to Foster National unity through sport. You look at pictures of of a young mandela. He is a beautiful man. At some point in every one of the movies, with the rare exception, you can see the actor, sort of unluge teash the mandela smile. Because he had this great smile. When they say that happens in so many mandela performances, the am begs ambition of the actor to meet the challenge. I am angry you are angry but you must show loyalty. See the fire in the eyes. Fire in the belly. Free free free Nelson Mandela reporter when mandela was in jail it was pop music responding to burgeoning protests and News Coverage of apartheid. Organized and fronted by bruce springsteen, steven vansant. Artists recorded sun city in 1985 to support the boycott of south africa. Years afterwards, after he won freedom for himself and his nation, the burdens of office were lightened for mandela by the occasional presence of entertainers. For Michael Jackson for the spice girls. This town which understands star culture, how did they see Nelson Mandela . He was the ultimate star . He is a hero, he is a flesh and blood hero, alive in our time. The entire Entertainment Community saw in him, a man they yearned to ive de eed to ived. You are saying to get your picture taken with Nelson Mandela was the ultimate tribute for a hollywood producer . Definitely. Meant your heart, spirit and conscience was in the right place. Even in a resolutely ironic age. Man dem las life, a hollywood touch stone. Never massive at the box office. Yet compelling. A hero for and of his time. That so many seem to chronicle and celebrate. Free Nelson Mandela im chris conley for nightline in los angeles. Our thanks to chris conley. Next, nelson man dem la inspired billions. How did this little boy inspire him . When we come back. The first had lots of coverage. The second, only a little. But the third was. Just right bear hi yeah, we love visitors. Thats why we moved to a secluded house in the middle of the wilderness. Just the right coverage at just the right price. Coverage checker from progressive. [ female announcer ] feed a man a cookie and he eats a cookie. Feed him a fresh baked cookie and he eats a much, much better cookie. Bake the world a better place with nestle toll house. Wake it up with olay regenerist. Formulated with a skin energizing complex, it penetrates 10 layers of the skins surface, because energized skin is younger looking skin. Is younger looking skin. It really made the difference between a morning around the house and getting a little exercise. Unlike the bargain brand, depend gives you new fitflex®, our best protection. Its a smooth and comfortable fit with more lycra strands. Get your free sample at depend. Com. When Nelson Mandela left office he left politics behindable. He did take up one final cause. Fighting against the spread and the stigma of hiv aids, which ravaged his country. One of his most powerful allies in helping change public perception, a 12yearold boy. Abcs david muir has the story. Nelson mandela was the man who inspired the world. That this was the little boy who inspired Nelson Mandela. More than a decade ago we first began following the story of this little boy, the South African boy, born with hiv. I wish i was well like everybody else in South African. I wish this aids disease can go away. He lost his mother to aids. At a time when south africa was unwilling to talk about the disease, enkozi bravely stood for the world. We are given things. We can walk. We can talk. [ applause ] we are just like everyone else. We are all the same. Thank you. That woman giving the thumbs up is the woman who would adopt him. Gail johnson. The two of them together would start a shoestring shelter with mothers and their children with aids. They called it enkozis haven. A small house. And mother whose are hiv, they are dying. It was a year after that we lost enkozi. Not long ago we traveled back to south africa to check on his adoptive mother and what she showed us. This is the baby daycare center. A sprawling village she continued to build in honor of her son. I will constantly reminded that kids need help. I constantly do it. We got a whole lot of liftle enkozis. Gail is working and takes care of more than 60, mothers and children, fighting hiv one of the children, tabiso. Gail loves me so much. She loves you so much. I love her so much. You love her. Tabiso doesnt have hiv, but his mother does. This is where they stay. This is like a home . Feels like home . Yes. Reporter the 17 cottages, library, clinic. At the end of the tour we met his mother. This is my mother. Told us she was struggling to survive when she got here that the medication gail provided had brought her back. [ indiscernible ] wouldnt beep here. And her children wouldnt beep with me. The whole time, gail was there listening. We asked what she made of it. An extended family. Nelson mandela said your son was an icon