“I don’t want to be chewing the scenery”: The Surprising Reason Morgan Freeman Hates Shawshank Redemption With A Passion

Morgan Freeman’s loath for ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ is a culmination of numerous reasons.

Very few could compete with Morgan Freeman when it comes to the Hollywood legend’s career. Having graced our screens for decades, the actor has delivered some of the finest pieces of cinema that if possible, deserve their own hall of fame. One of these notable films is The Shawshank Redemption.

Although the film was a grave box office disappointment, it is now certainly among the greatest films of all time, one that continues to be relished by the young and old. But for its lead star, Morgan Freeman, despite being ‘enchanted’ by the script the film is among his least liked ones.

Morgan Freeman Is Not Fond Of His Greatest Movie Ever Made

Freeman as Ellis ‘Red’ Redding in The Shawshank Redemption

When Morgan Freeman was first handed the script of Frank Darabont‘s adaptation of Stephen King‘s novella, he was enchanted and very much amused to get the chance to portray Ellis ‘Red’ Redding (via Yahoo). However, his enchantment and amusement soon turned to misery once he landed on the sets.

As the Oscar-winning legend reveals to Vanity Fair, there were quite a few difficult times on set and tensions primarily arose due to the creative differences between the cast and the director.

“Most of the time, the tension was between the cast and director. I remember having a bad moment with the director, had a few of those.”

These bad few moments mostly were a result of Darabont’s insistence on doing re-takes after re-takes with no valid reason, which naturally aggravated Freeman.

“The answer [I’d give him] was no. I don’t want to be chewing the scenery. Acting itself isn’t difficult. But having to do something again and again for no discernible reason tends to be a bit debilitating to the energy.”

Despite what the final product discloses, there were not the only reasons that added to Freeman’s displeasure towards the film, for he and Darabont also crashed on how the ending of the film should turn out.

Morgan Freeman Refused To Film The Shawshank Redemption’s Original Ending

The famous ending scene of the film

Morgan Freeman was not only displeased by the movie’s difficult name and numerous retakes, but he was also adamant not to shoot Frank Darabont’s version of the end. Very few movies remain brilliant, from the start to the end, and The Shawshank Redemption is among them.

While Darabont wanted to end the film just like the novella, on an ambiguous note, Freeman along with the test audience wanted more of a ‘definitive’ end. While the director came on board, he insisted Freeman play the harmonica, which the actor vehemently refused (via The Daily News).

“Frank thought I should be blowing that harmonica that Andy gave me, and I refused… [for it would have been] sort of asinine, sort of cliched, sort of unnecessary, and overkill.”

While the simple end was liked and praised by the audience, Darabont was ironically not fond of the way it turned out but had to include it because of the producer’s insistence (via Vanity Fair).

Morgan Freeman might not have The Shawshank Redemption up in his best films ever made list (via Yahoo), but he sure is glad to be in a film that is considered by many to be the best movie of all time and doesn’t even seem to contest or tries to outdo it (via The Daily News).

The Shawshank Redemption can be streamed on Pluto TV.