Exclusive: William Sadler Recalls Fond Memories of Filming ‘Shawshank Redemption’ on 30th Anniversary
It may be hard to believe, but we are coming up on the 30th anniversary of the Oscar-winning film The Shawshank Redemption! The 1994 Stephen King adaptation about a man (Tim Robbins) who gets convicted of two murders he did not commit and is sent to Shawshank Prison (and develops a lifelong friendship with a fellow inmate played by Morgan Freeman) was nominated for seven Oscars and is widely considered one of the best movies of all time. Considering what it’s up against on all these lists — The Godfather, Schindler’s List, Pulp Fiction, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly — it’s sort of surprising that a slow-moving film set against the dismal backdrop of a giant Midwestern prison would be so appealing to movie fans.
So why is the movie such a timeless, well-regarded classic? Is it because it’s inspirational? Is it the story itself (in which case, Stephen King can take some of the credit), which is successful in both creating a suspenseful plot and creating well-drawn characters to root for? Or is it because sometimes writing, acting, directing and cinematography hit upon the perfect alchemy, and this was one of those times?
We recently asked William Sadler, who played the Hank Williams-loving convict who gives Andy Dufresne the rope that would eventually help him escape, what he thought.
Shawshank Redemption is widely considered one of the best films of all time. IMDb lists it as the best film of all time. Why do you think it’s so beloved?
William: I think part of that has to do with the fact that it’s a film about hope and at some point or another, every single one of us poor humans needs to be told that hope is a good thing, maybe the best thing. It is also a movie about friendship, a deep and abiding friendship between two men that resonates with people.
Michael Weinstein/Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
Do you ever feel like the movie maybe prevented any future prison escapes though? They probably don’t let you put posters on your wall anymore.
That’s probably really, really hard to do these days in the real world. You’re right. But I like to think that if prisoners got to watch it, they would find some comfort there, a reason to find hope where there doesn’t seem to be any. It’s one of the most horrible things I can imagine, being convicted of murder — a double murder — and sentenced to life. He’s never going to get out of this place. To know that you’re innocent, to know that you didn’t do it and you’re going to be punished — I can’t think of anything more horrible.
Are you a fan of Stephen King‘s?
I find Stephen King’s writing just extraordinary. I mean, everything that I’ve read, and the films that I’ve done … the twists and the turns and the things that you don’t see coming. That one in Shawshank in particular, you don’t see it coming. Nobody sees it coming, and in fact, my character gives him a rope. He asks for a piece of rope, so I give him some rope … how am I supposed to know?
You were also in the film The Green Mile, which is another Stephen King movie. Did you find any parallels with the two films?
I think they’re very different in that John Coffey sort of represents this Christ figure that has this magical power. I think it’s powerful, but for other reasons. We would like to believe that there’s goodness like that. What a wonderful idea that there’s someone who could just touch you and cancer, or whatever, just flies away. It’s a beautifully drawn portrait. What’s wonderful to watch is Tom Hanks and the rest of the folks, and how they interact and how they change toward him. Whereas my character starts at a place where Coffey’s killed my two little girls and ends at the execution saying, “Kill him twice.” The whole audience is saying, “No, don’t. Can’t you let him go? He’s the sweetest human that ever walked.”
Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection
They both involve someone wrongfully imprisoned, which is an interesting parallel too.
That’s exactly right. It’s my real problem with the death penalty. We get it wrong every now and then. It’s hard to imagine a worse torture than sitting in a jail cell knowing that you didn’t do it and they’re going to kill you for it. That’s a horror movie. That’s a sort of believable horror movie. I think we probably do that a lot.
Both the films encourage audiences to practice more empathy, though, especially in Shawshank, because the roles are kind of reversed: the prisoners are the good guys and the prison guards are the bad guys, so it kind of flips the script a bit.
Right, right. There’s a lovely role reversal. Things aren’t always what they seem. The first time you see John Coffey in The Green Mile, he’s covered with blood, and he’s got these two little girls in his hands, and he’s this huge monster of a guy. He has to have killed him. As an audience, that’s where you go. Then, little by little by little, you find out. You find out what he was doing, you find out why he was holding them and what he’s capable of doing and so on.
Do you have any fun memories from filming Shawshank?
I have lots of wonderful memories about filming Shawshank. There was a terrific camaraderie on the set. One of my favorite memories was Frank Darabont calling me. We had finished shooting that day, and he called me where I was staying, and said, “If we sent you a tape of Hank Williams singing the Lonesome Blues, could you learn it and sing it tomorrow?” I said, “Yeah,” and then we shot it the next day.
Die Hard 2. Courtesy of Everett Collection.
I heard it was filmed in Ohio. How was that?
Yeah. The town of Mansfield was really small. It’s probably much larger and more developed now. We were there for a long time filming it, so we got to know the place pretty well, but one of my favorite things was to go visit the Living Bible Museum, which was nearby. It was sort of a roadside attraction where they told Bible stories with all these mannequins from department stores dressed up as Joseph and Mary and so on.
That definitely sounds like Ohio!
I actually collect old guitars and mandolins and banjos. I put an ad in the Pennysavers around Mansfield Field. By the end of the summer, I had so many guitars and banjos and ukuleles and mandolins that I had to ship them back with a truck. They had to wrap them all up on a pallet and ship them back to LA when we were done filming.
What was your favorite scene to shoot?
The dinner table scenes. You’re sitting across from Morgan Freeman and James Whitmore and Tim Robbins, and every time we sat down at this table and started a scene, the scene just lifted off the page. It was sort of like everybody brought their A-game. You could sort of aim the camera at anybody, and they were engaged and listening on it.
What was your favorite scene to watch?
The scene when they think he’s dead. That’s one of my favorite scenes to watch because it’s just beautifully set up. You’re sure he’s gone. He said, “Get busy living and get busy dying,” and then I gave him a rope. And then to find out that not only didn’t he kill himself, he pulled the biggest heist in the history of mankind. He emptied all these bank accounts and he just upended the entire corrupt prison. It’s a beautiful ending, but it really does come as a surprise, and I think that’s why I like it so much.
Courtesy of Everett
Check out William Sadler’s most recent film, A Stage of Twilight, on Prime Video.
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September 2019
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