Top 10 Amazing Facts About The Shawshank Redemption

#10: Money Back

As you may or may not know, Stephen King wrote the novella that “The Shawshank Redemption” is based on. The author typically offers new directors the rights to his stories for a mere dollar to help them build their resumes. However, “Shawshank” was director Frank Darabont’s second King story adapted to the screen, and he offered King $5000 for it. While King had difficulty believing it could work as a movie, Darabont certainly proved him wrong! As impressive as the ultimate film is, we’re equally impressed with King himself. The King of Horror made the downright kingly decision to never cash that $5000 dollar check, instead framing it and gifting it to Darabont - “in case he ever needs bail money.” Legendary.

#9: The Real Prison Was in Ohio

Like many Stephen King stories, “The Shawshank Redemption” is set in Maine. However, the real prison used for filming is located in Mansfield, Ohio. The Ohio State Reformatory, a.k.a. the Mansfield Reformatory, was closed in 1990 and has since been used to film “Shawshank” as well as several other films. The prison is also said to be haunted, which, along with its “Shawshank” connection, has helped bring in tourism to the Mansfield area. Ohio State Reformatory is also a museum now, with the various tours and events there helping fund efforts to restore and preserve the historic buildings.

#8: Morgan Freeman’s On-Set Injury

Given that they were filming in an allegedly haunted prison, you’d think injuries would’ve been constant. However, Morgan Freeman’s most notable injury during the filming of “Shawshank” was in an unexpected scene. When Freeman’s character Red first meets Andy, he can be seen throwing a baseball back and forth with fellow prisoner Heywood. Filming for this scene was done over the course of 9 hours in a single day. Freeman didn’t complain once at the time, but the next day of filming, he turned up with his arm in a sling. That’s a professional for you.

#7: Morgan Freeman’s Family Cameos

Cameos by cast members’ families are common in many films, and “Shawshank” is no exception. Morgan Freeman’s son Alfonso appears in the film - several times, in fact. During Andy Dufresne’s arrival at Shawshank, Alfonso can be seen among the crowd taunting the new inmates. The younger Freeman plays a prisoner acting out “reeling in” the “fresh fish.” But that’s not his only appearance. Alfonso also “plays” the younger version of his father’s character, Red. During Red’s parole hearings, his mugshot at the time of his arrest is shown, with a photo of Alfonso acting as the more youthful Red. Who better to play a younger Morgan Freeman than his son?

#6: A Fitting Part of the Bible

If you’ve seen “The Shawshank Redemption,” you know that Andy Dufresne escapes. However, fewer people pick up on a small detail relating to how he did it. Andy keeps a Bible. Warden Samuel Norton is quite religious himself and doesn’t open Andy’s copy when searching his cell. After Andy escapes and exposes Norton’s corruption, the warden checks his safe, only to find Andy replaced Norton’s ledger with his Bible, inside of which he hid the rock hammer he used to dig out of his cell. The part of the Bible he used? The Book of Exodus. Fitting, don’t you think?

#5: Red’s “Heritage”

During Red’s aforementioned first meeting with Andy, the former jokes that people call him Red because he’s “Irish.” However, it’s more than just a joke. In the original novella, Red really is an older Irish-American man with red hair, making his nickname far more self-explanatory. While other actors considered for the part, more on them later, could probably have pulled the part off, and been more accurate to the text, we doubt whether any could have made it as iconic as Morgan Freeman did. Plus, we’d lose a pretty good joke.

#4: “Gilda” & Andy’s Crime

Rita Hayworth has a very prominent role in “The Shawshank Redemption,” in more ways than one. Andy famously covers his escape hole with a series of posters on his wall. The first of these features Rita Hayworth. He approaches Red about getting the poster during a screening of Hayworth’s film, “Gilda.” The choice of movie is appropriate, since “Gilda” follows the title character whose husband tries to kill her and her lover, the crime for which Andy is (wrongfully) convicted. It’s not the only piece of media in the film with connections to Andy’s crime either. The opera song Andy plays for the prisoners is from “The Marriage of Figaro,” which also features marital infidelity. Sure is beautiful though.

#3: Voiceover On-Set

Morgan Freeman’s iconic narration is one of the most memorable parts of “The Shawshank Redemption.” What you may not know is that it was a core part of the production almost since the beginning. Freeman recorded a rough version of the voiceover before filming - it was re-recorded later because of a hissing sound. The recording was then played on-set. The actors and director used the narration to help find the tempo of each scene during filming. That’s right - even while making “The Shawshank Redemption” they were enjoying Morgan Freeman’s dulcet tones.

#2: Alternate Casting Choices

The two leads of “Shawshank” had some truly famous names considered before Tim Robinson and Morgan Freeman were chosen. Many veteran actors were offered or eyed for Red, including Paul Newman, Harrison Ford, Gene Hackman, Robert Redford (heh), Robert Duvall, and Clint Eastwood. Andy, meanwhile, was almost played by everyone from Kevin Costner to Johnny Depp, and even Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise. Costner and Hanks were filming other movies at the time, but Cruise got as far as doing a table read before declining. It’s just as well. We have a hard time imagining Tom Cruise doing anyone’s taxes.

#1: The Title Change

“The Shawshank Redemption” is not the title of Stephen King’s original story. It’s actually “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.” However, the title change wasn’t just to draw attention away from Hayworth’s poster, which might have ruined the big twist. The production also had several women, and one man in drag, auditioning for the Rita Hayworth role, which naturally didn’t exist. Sadly, the title confusion didn’t end there. Many in the production, like Robbins and Freeman, have claimed that “The Shawshank Redemption” was an unmemorable or confusing title - which some attribute to the film’s poor box office performance. Thankfully, the years since have proven that the title, and movie, are unforgettable.

Is there a spectacular “Shawshank” fact we forgot? “Get busy” commenting your favorites down below!