The Shawshank Redemption Never Told You Why Red Was In Prison — Here’s The Sinister Truth

The Shawshank Redemption changes Red’s story to show his journey of hope and friendship. Here’s why it was kept off-screen.

- May 28, 2025 | 11:31 AM IST

Freeman’s Character Watching Andy In Courtyard(Photo Credit –Netflix)

Morgan Freeman opens The Shawshank Redemption not with violence or drama, but with his signature calm and measured words. In the movie, he plays Ellis Boyd Redding (Red), a man who’s been in prison so long that to him the walls feel more like home than the outside world.

However, unlike most characters, Red’s crime is never shown or mentioned in the film, which adds a quiet mystery to his presence. Viewers see him as a wise and decent man but the truth, hidden in the original Stephen King novella, tells a far darker story.

The Dark Backstory Of Red In The Stephen King Novella

In the book, Red isn’t just serving time. He is responsible for three deaths. As a young man, he tampered with his wife’s car brakes and planned her death for insurance money. But little did he know that she’d be giving a ride to a neighbor and a baby that day.

When the accident happened, all three died. That’s the version of Red Stephen King wrote. However, Frank Darabont, who directed the film, decided to leave that part out.

The director not only removed Red’s crime, he also reimagined the entire character. In the novella, Red is a middle-aged Irishman. Now, as we know, casting Morgan Freeman changed everything. It brought depth and gravity to the role that went beyond the written page.

In the movie a subtle joke hints at the original description where it is quipped Red being an Irish but Freeman made the role fully his own.

Why The Film Leaves Out Red’s Crime

Red serves as both narrator and emotional anchor in the film. His bond with Andy Dufresne, grows over decades. Red provides Andy with a rock hammer, shares advice about prison life, and slowly comes to admire his spirit. Andy’s quiet defiance and commitment to hope start to chip away at Red’s cynicism.

It’s not until much later Red admits what everyone else denies, that he is, in fact, guilty. The moment lands harder because it’s one of the few times Red opens up about his past, even if the film never says what he actually did.

In the book, another major character, Brooks, never dies after being released, but in the film, Brooks’ tragic end helps underscore Red’s own journey. Brooks couldn’t live outside the prison walls. Red nearly follows the same path, but Andy’s message and the dream of a place called Zihuatanejo shift something inside him.

By not showing Red’s crime, the film allows his relationship with Andy to carry more emotional weight. It’s not about what Red did but what he becomes – a man who once rejected hope, learning to believe in it once more.

The Title Hurt The Film’s Box Office

Off screen, Morgan Freeman once admitted he never saw himself playing Red, not because of the character’s crime but because Red was supposed to be Irish. But the script won him over.

In an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Freeman admitted, “I read the script. It was so well done. Such a good script. So, I said to my agent, ‘okay, I’ll do anything in here. What do they want me to do?’ He said, ‘they want you to be Red.’ Hell, that’s the movie. Yeah, I’ll do it.”

In the end, The Shawshank Redemption wasn’t a box office hit. Its title confused people. Freeman even argued against it, thinking something simpler might have worked better.