History Trivia / TheShawshankRedemption

* ExecutiveVeto: Creator/FrankDarabont originally wanted to end the film with Red on the bus traveling to Mexico in the hope of reuniting with Andy. Producer Liz Glotzer insisted that he shoot a scene of them actually reuniting, which ended up being included in the final cut after test audiences [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming loved it.]]

* ShrugOfGod: Frank Darabont has admitted that the Christian interpretations of Andy Dufresne (a saintly figure who is unjustly accused, brings hope and goodness to sinners and the downtrodden, and is cast down into "Hell" but [[spoiler:emerges from a dark hole]] in a CrucifiedHeroShot) were completely unintentional, but he [[DeathOfTheAuthor likes it when people interpret the story that way.]]

* RealLife/MeanCharacterNiceActor: Quite a few.
** Captain Hadley is a sadistic prison officer, but his actor Creator/ClancyBrown is one of the nicest guys in both the film and TV industry. He described the filming location as "a horrible monument to inhuman treatment of men by men" and stated that he had a problem acting out some of the brutal {{No Holds Barred Beatdown}}s he had to dish out to the prisoners.
*** In the same vein, Brown received multiple offers from former corrections officers to help him develop the character, all of which he turned down because he didn't want his performance to reflect badly on real [=CO=]s.
** Creator/MarkRolston, the actor who played Bogs (a serial rapist) genuinely seemed overjoyed to be working with everyone in interviews and seems nothing like his character.
** Creator/BobGunton, who played Warden Norton, is by all accounts a quite laid-back and chilled out guy (and for real, not in the [[AffablyEvil evil]] or [[FauxAffablyEvil fake]] kind of way.

* ActorAllusion: Creator/MorganFreeman did time in [[Film/ThePowerOfOne South Africa.]]
* ActorInspiredElement: Every picture, except for the big posters, in Andy's cell were all hand picked by actor Tim Robbins himself.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: This movie was criticized for portraying prison guards as using beatings to control inmates, [[http://www.correctionsone.com/treatment/articles/2017869-ACLU-suing-Corrections-Corp-of-America/ but prison guards have been known to do exactly that in real life,]] and such things would have been even ''more'' widespread during the time the film takes place in.
* ThrowItIn: Tim Robbins ad-libbed Andy Dufresne turning up the volume on the speaker in defiance of Norton telling him to turn it off.

** Creator/TomHanks turned down the role of Andy Dufresne in order to star in ''Film/ForrestGump''.
** As did Creator/KevinCostner, in order to make ''Film/{{Waterworld}}''. Needless to say, he regrets it.
** Creator/JeffBridges, Creator/TomCruise, Creator/NicolasCage, Creator/JohnnyDepp, and Creator/CharlieSheen were all considered to play Andy as well.

* Director Frank Darabont had to change the title from ''Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption'' to just ''The Shawshank Redemption'' because several actresses sent in their resumes in for consideration thinking it was a Rita Hayworth movie. Accorting to Darabont, a supermodel's agent called him and said that it was the best script he'd ever read and his client would be perfect for the part of "Rita Hayworth"--[[EpicFail immediately revealing just how much attention the agent had paid to the actual script.]]

** Creator/JeffBridges, Creator/JohnnyDepp, Creator/TomCruise, Creator/NicolasCage, and Creator/CharlieSheen were all considered to play Andy as well.

* VindicatedByCable: Back in 1994, it earned just over $28 million at the US box office; it has since enjoyed a remarkable life on cable television and home video. Ted Turner loved this movie so much, he made sure it was playing on at least one of his cable networks every weekend for about a decade (helped by the fact that he had acquired Castle Rock {and Creator/NewLineCinema, for that matter} right when the movie was about to debut), which helped the film earn back its budget and give it the mainstream recognition it never received while in theaters. You can still find it on Creator/{{TBS}} or a similar channel, even 15 years later. It's also available on Creator/{{Netflix}}.

* VindicatedByCable: Back in 1994, it earned just over $28 million at the US box office; it has since enjoyed a remarkable life on cable television and home video. Ted Turner loved this movie so much, he made sure it was playing on at least one of his cable networks every weekend for about a decade (Helped by the fact that he had sold the rights to the movie cheaply to his own stations so playing it was cheap), which helped the film earn back its budget and give it the mainstream recognition it never received while in theaters. You can still find it on Creator/{{TBS}} or a similar channel, even 15 years later. It's also available on Creator/{{Netflix}}.

** Creator/JonFavreau auditioned for the role of Fat Butt. He later told Empire Magazine that this was the worst audition he ever did and it encouraged him to try and lose weight.

** Traditionally, guys called "Red" are redheads (this was the case in the novella). Initial casting calls had that in mind. The role is played by MorganFreeman, who would not pick up that nickname naturally but owns the role anyway. It's explained in the film (though not in the novella), that Red's nickname comes from his name, Ellis Redding.

** Creator/RobReiner loved Creator/FrankDarabont's script so much that he offered $2.5 million for the rights to the script so he could direct it. Darabont seriously considered Reiner's offer but ultimately decided that it was his "chance to do something really great" by directing the movie himself.

* ActorAllusion: Morgan Freeman did time in [[Film/ThePowerOfOne South Africa.]]

* InsertCameo: The hands loading the gun in the beginning of the film belong to director Frank Darabont.
* PlayingAgainstType: Oddly enough, MorganFreeman as Red counts, even though it's one of Freeman's best-known roles. Though Red is a generally good-natured guy, he's a far cry from the kindly old authority figures and [[AlmightyJanitor humble mentors]] that Freeman is best known for playing. Instead, he's a cynical murderer who [[TheAtoner deeply regrets the mistakes of his past]], and ultimately has his life saved by following someone else's example.

** Creator/BobGunton, who played Warden Norton, is by all accounts a quite laid-back and chilled out guy (and for real, not in the [[AffablyEvil evil]] or [[FauxAffablyEvil fake]] kind of way).

** Creator/TomHanks turned down the role of Andy Dufresne.

** Creator/JohnnyDepp, TomCruise, NicolasCage, and Creator/CharlieSheen were all considered to play Andy as well.

** There were [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g21fJk-aCo numerous deleted scenes]] from the film, mainly cut for pacing purposes, including:
*** A sequence where the convicts find Jake (Brooks's pet crow) dead in a field sometime after Brooks has left the prison, and the convicts give Jake a funeral and burial. This deletion ends up providing a subtle thematic shift; as scripted, both Brooks and Jake represent the dangers of institutionalization, but as depicted on screen, Jake ends up foreshadowing Andy's successful escape in the climax of the film.
*** Tommy's young wife visiting him, their conversations providing a more vivid illustration into why Tommy decides to turn his life around and approaches Andy to work on getting his GED.
*** After Andy's escape, an unfortunate guard is sent into his tunnel to see where it leads, and when he sees the sewage pipe broken into and smells the overwhelming odor of shit, he vomits - ''loudly''. Red hears this happen from his own cell and cracks up laughing. He's sent to solitary confinement for two weeks... where he continues laughing, thus learning for himself what Andy (in the aftermath of the loudspeaker incident) had meant about "easy time" in the hole.
*** Red's feelings on the 1960s after he is paroled, as well as a panic attack in the grocery store that sends him running for a bathroom cubicle that calms him down because it reminds him of his cell - thus making his choice to find the tree and rock wall more meaningful, because it runs counter to [[spoiler:Brooks's choice]].

** AFIS100Years100Movies10ThAnniversaryEdition: #72

* AbilityOverAppearance: Traditionally, guys called "Red" are redheads (this was the case in the novella). Initial casting calls had that in mind. The role is played by MorganFreeman, who would not pick up that nickname naturally but owns the role anyway. It's explained in the film (though not in the novella), that Red's nickname comes from his name, Ellis Redding.
** This is referenced in the film when Andy asks him why he's called Red. The reply "maybe because I'm Irish" is a reference to the Red character in the original novel, who was both red headed and Irish.

* InsertCameo:
** The hands loading the gun in the beginning of the film belong to director Frank Darabont.

* VindicatedByCable: Back in 1994, it earned just over $28 million at the US box office; it has since enjoyed a remarkable life on cable television and home video. Ted Turner loved this movie so much, he made sure it was playing on at least one of his cable networks every weekend for about a decade (Helped by the fact that he had sold the rights to the movie cheaply to his own stations so playing it was cheap), which helped the film earn back its budget and give it the mainstream recognition it never received while in theaters. You can still find it on Creator/{{TBS}} or a similar channel, even 15 years later.

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** The mug shot shown on Red's parole paperwork is a photo of MorganFreeman's son Alfonso. Alfonso also has a cameo at the beginning of the movie, he's the inmate who says "Fresh fish! Fresh fish today! We're reeling 'em in!" as the bus carrying Andy comes in.
*** He also starred as ''Fred'' Redding in the parody short ''The [=SharkTank=] Redemption''.
** Did anybody else notice that [[Creator/ClancyBrown the Captain]] is actually [[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants Mr. Krabs]]? He is [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries also]] [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Lex]] [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited Luthor]] and [[Film/{{Highlander}} The Kurgan]]
** And as of 2011, the Lex Luthor torch [[WesternAnimation/YoungJustice has been passed]] to Bogs!
** So Lex Luthor was beating up Lex Luthor!
** [[Series/TheWalkingDead Dale]] prosecuted Andy.
*** As did [[Film/TheGreenMile Harry Terwilliger]].
** [[Film/{{Aliens}} Drake]] rapes Andy.
** [[Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney Death]] is an inmate.

** And as of 2011, the Lex Luthor torch [[WesternAnimation/YoungJustice has been passed]] to Boggs!

** Creator/MarkRolston, the actor who played Boggs (a serial rapist) genuinely seemed overjoyed to be working with everyone in interviews and seems nothing like his character.

** [[Film/BillAndTed Death]] is an inmate.

** Did anybody else notice that [[Creator/ClancyBrown the Captain]] is actually [[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants Mr. Krabs]]? He is [[SupermanTheAnimatedSeries also]] [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Lex]] [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited Luthor]] and [[Film/{{Highlander}} The Kurgan]]

* Director Frank Darabont had to change the title from ''Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption'' to just ''The Shawshank Redemption'' because several actresses sent in their resumes in for consideration thinking it was a Rita Hayworth movie. Accorting to Darabont, a supermodel's agent called him and said that it was the best script he'd ever read and his client would be perfect for the part of "Rita Hayworth"!