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Film credit

Morgan Freeman

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Episodes featuring their films
1
Movies in this archive
1

Mentioned in discussions

This Is the End poster
This Is the End

Casting What-Ifs

This Is the End The Rewatchables

Mila Kunis or Kristen Stewart for Emma Watson; several lost cameos

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:55Read transcript
  • Mila Kunis was reportedly the original Emma Watson-role choice and is favored by one participant for her comic history with the cast.
  • Others defend Emma Watson because Hermione’s presence and her perceived innocence make the scene stranger and funnier.
  • Kristen Stewart is proposed as a Twilight-based alternate.
  • Cameron Diaz was reportedly lost when production moved from Los Angeles to New Orleans.
  • Daniel Radcliffe reportedly declined a role.
  • An alternate ending with Morgan Freeman pretending to be God is described and rejected in favor of the Backstreet Boys ending.
Rocky III poster
Rocky III

Recasting Couch

Rocky III The Rewatchables

Morgan Freeman is placed as Clubber’s trainer, Kevin Harlan as a fight announcer, and a young Mel Gibson is jokingly proposed for the rabbi.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:53Read transcript
  • Morgan Freeman is proposed as Clubber’s trainer despite the need to deliver instructions quickly.
  • Kevin Harlan is proposed for the second fight’s play-by-play.
  • A young Mel Gibson is jokingly proposed as the rabbi at Mickey’s funeral.
Rocky III poster
Rocky III

Casting What-Ifs

Rocky III The Rewatchables

Joe Frazier and Ernie Shavers were considered for Clubber; Billy Graham for Thunderlips; Morgan Freeman for Clubber’s trainer; and several actors or wrestlers are proposed as alternatives.

This discussion recalls a choice from an earlier episode.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:20Read transcript
  • Joe Frazier and Ernie Shavers were considered for Clubber, but a stutter and a high voice were seen as liabilities.
  • Mr. T was discovered through America’s Best Bouncer.
  • Superstar Billy Graham was considered too old for Thunderlips.
  • Morgan Freeman unsuccessfully auditioned to be Clubber’s trainer.
  • John Amos is considered as a known actor alternative, though his age and familiarity would reduce Clubber’s mystery.
  • Andre, Ernie Ladd, Big John Stud, Bundy, and Paul Orndorf are discussed as wrestling alternatives for Thunderlips.
Boyz n the Hood poster
Boyz n the Hood

Recasting Couch

Boyz n the Hood The Rewatchables

Morgan Freeman as the recruiter is proposed but rejected for potentially taking the scene away from Ricky.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:19:16Read transcript
  • Morgan Freeman as the recruiter is proposed but rejected for potentially taking the scene away from Ricky.
  • Sam Jackson is considered as recruiter; Denzel as Furious is supported, while Jackson as Furious seems too early in his career.
The Shawshank Redemption poster
The Shawshank Redemption

Who Won the Movie?

The Shawshank Redemption The Rewatchables

Morgan Freeman wins for serving as the film's soul, narrator, pragmatic counterweight, and emotional center.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:46:10Read transcript
  • Morgan Freeman receives the immediate winner answer and agreement.
  • His narration balances sentiment with a pragmatic, realistic tone.
  • Red's changed final parole speech embodies that balance and completes Freeman's winner case.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Morgan Freeman
Speaker not identified
Morgan Freeman
The Shawshank Redemption poster
The Shawshank Redemption

Apex Mountain

The Shawshank Redemption The Rewatchables

The panel gives positive apex verdicts to Morgan Freeman, Tim Robbins, prison movies, Frank Darabont, and the supporting cast.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:07Read transcript
  • Morgan Freeman receives a positive verdict based on the run from Unforgiven through Shawshank and Seven.
  • Tim Robbins receives an unqualified positive verdict despite joking alternate references to Arlington Road and Top Gun.
  • Prison movies receive a positive verdict over Escape from Alcatraz, the movie rendered as Brewbreaker, and The Jericho Mile.
  • The movie is treated as an apex for its many recognizable supporting actors.
  • Frank Darabont receives a positive verdict over the later launch of The Walking Dead.
  • Rita Hayworth is rejected because she has another apex.
The Shawshank Redemption poster
The Shawshank Redemption

Half-Assed Internet Research

The Shawshank Redemption The Rewatchables

Research covers the Ohio prison, Stephen King's rights check, the tense shoot, prison and money details, Morgan Freeman's son, the sewage prop, Alan Green, the ending, the oak tree, visitors, deleted scenes, and prerecorded narration.

In the discussion (20)
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:07Read transcript
  • The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield supplied the prison location and later became a visitor destination.
  • Stephen King never cashed Darabont's five-thousand-dollar rights check and returned it framed with a bail-money joke.
  • The shoot was unusually tense because Darabont demanded long days and many takes, leading Freeman to recall repeated conflict.
  • The research says he threw out his arm and showed up with the sling after many takes.
  • Andy Dufresne's stated prison number is 37927.
  • Andy takes $375,000 from the warden, described as roughly $3.7 million in 2019 dollars.
  • An initial claim that only the grocery customer and bank clerk are women with speaking roles is challenged by recollection of a woman on the parole board.
  • The young Red mug shot and a fresh-fish prisoner are played by Morgan Freeman's son Alfonso.
  • The beach was filmed on St. Croix rather than at the story's Mexican destination.
  • The sewage mixture used water, chocolate syrup, and sawdust rather than actual waste.
  • The film is dedicated to Darabont's agent Alan Green, who died of AIDS during production.
  • Film producer Liz Glotzer insisted on showing the reunion; Darabont resisted it as too commercial and sentimental before the filmed version won approval.
  • The Buxton oak was damaged by lightning in 2011, fell in 2016, and was turned into memorabilia after removal.
  • The prison drew eighteen thousand visitors in 2013 and more than three million dollars into the local economy.
  • One deleted scene has the prisoners find Jake dead and bury Brooks's bird.
  • Another deleted scene has Tommy's wife visit and motivate his GED effort.
  • A deleted escape aftermath sends a guard through the tunnel, where the sewage smell makes him vomit as Red laughs from his cell.
  • Deleted post-release material shows Red having a panic attack at the grocery store.
  • Freeman recorded the narration before filming, and it was played during scenes on set.
  • Test audiences were reportedly restless during deleted post-release scenes featuring Red.
The Shawshank Redemption poster
The Shawshank Redemption

What’s Aged the Best?

The Shawshank Redemption The Rewatchables

The narration, score, photography, timeless construction, fresh-fish pool, posters, prison dialogue, Tommy's dramatic function, and Morgan Freeman's performance lead the praise.

In the discussion (14)
Approx. transcript time · 00:46:31Read transcript
  • The film is treated as a rare case where narration is essential rather than a storytelling crutch.
  • The Thomas Newman score is praised, while the trailer's use of the Miller's Crossing score prompts a discussion of temporary music.
  • Music from St. Elmo's Fire and Terms of Endearment is recalled as similarly common accompaniment for emotional sports broadcasts.
  • The overhead prison photography and restrained period markers let the story span decades without feeling trapped in period display.
  • The fresh-fish cigarette pool remains a memorable piece of prison social life.
  • Red's understated claim that Andy's first two years were his worst is darkly funny because of the brutality being summarized.
  • Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, and Raquel Welch are endorsed as the right succession of cell-wall posters.
  • Hadley's attack on Boggs is satisfying because it permanently ends the Sisters' abuse of Andy.
  • Andy's observation that prison turned an honest banker into a crook is praised as durable dialogue.
  • The warden's fixation on being called obtuse culminates in his threat to destroy the library and return Andy to abuse.
  • Red's narration after the warden's death is singled out for its precise comic word choices.
  • Morgan Freeman's performance is described as consistently perfect and among the best in the podcast's covered films.
  • Tommy's arrival restores hope for Andy, so his murder becomes the act that finally changes Andy's course.
  • Sophia Lauren is suggested as someone who could fit among the posters.
Displaying all 9 discussions

Films in the archive

The Shawshank Redemption

1994

Rewatchables episodes featuring their films

Displaying 1 episode