“Sort of asinine, sort of cliched, sort of unnecessary.” Morgan Freeman refused to film The Shawshank Redemption scene he described as “overkill”
The finale of The Shawshank Redemption could have looked different, however Morgan Freeman strongly opposed one idea.
The Shawshank Redemption is one of the best productions in Morgan Freeman's filmography. The brilliant movie, which collected seven Oscar nominations, has an unforgettable ending, ranked as one of its strongest points.
The uplifting finale of the prisoners' story moves every time Andy and Red meet again on the beaches of Zihuatanejo, Mexico. This takes place after Red receives parole and is finally able to complete their journey together, finding his best friend.
Initially, however, the plan for the film's ending was different. More ambiguous, as we were supposed to see Red on a bus to Mexico at the end, but after test screenings, director Frank Darabont decided they needed a more definitive finale, which Freeman agreed with. On the other hand, he disagreed with ending it on an overly sentimental note, which is why he wasn't convinced by the idea of blowing in a harmonica from Andy. The actor thought the idea was “overkill” and refused to shoot the scene, he told The Daily News in an interview.
Frank thought I should be blowing that harmonica that Andy gave me, and I refused. [It was] sort of asinine, sort of cliched, sort of unnecessary, and overkill.
The shape the ending took in the end is perfect. And there's no doubt that Freeman, when he rebelled, wanted the best for the movie – when he received its script, he told his agent that he would play anything in it. He just wanted to be part of The Shawshank Redemption.
I just got the script and I called my agent back and said, 'Any role. I'll play anything in here'. That's how good it was.
The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 film directed by Frank Darabont. It adapts a short story by Stephen King and tells the story of a banker wrongly sentenced to life imprisonment who tries to survive in a brutal prison world.
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