8 Things You Didn’t Know About Stephen King’s ‘The Green Mile’
This week, the Oscar-nominated film The Green Mile, about a man on death row who turns out to have some magical powers, celebrated its 25th anniversary. It was released on Dec. 10, 1999 and boasted an all-star cast including Tom Hanks, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, James Cromwell, Sam Rockwell and the late Michael Clarke Duncan. Here are some facts you may not know about the acclaimed Stephen King adaptation.
1The part of Paul Edgecomb was not originally intended for Tom Hanks.
Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection
Before Tom Hanks was cast to play head prison guard Paul Edgecomb, the role was offered to John Travolta, but he turned down the part. Michael Keaton and Michael Douglas were also both considered. Finally, Tom Hanks accepted the role as a favor to Frank Darabont, as he had recently turned down the role of Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption (1994) because he was on board to star in Forrest Gump (1994).
2What does the title mean?
The Green Mile refers to the green floor of the hallway that death row inmates would walk down before their execution.
3Fifteen mice played the role of Mr. Jingles.
Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection
Each one was trained to perform different tricks, although many times the actors are looking at a laser pointing at the floor and not a mouse. In one scene, a mouse actually defecates on Tom Hanks’ character, Paul Edgecombe. Tom Hanks wasn’t just pretending to wipe his jacket!
4Sam Rockwell requested prosthetic zits
Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection
Sam Rockwell wanted William “Wild Bill” Wharton to be as faithful to the novel as possible so he told the makeup team to cover him in fake zits for his nude scene. That’s dedication!
5Did Stephen King like the adaptation?
Yes. Stephen King called it the most faithful adaptation of any of his books. King originally published the novel in installments, as a response to readers who always skipped to the last page of his books, and even he didn’t know how it was going to end when he first started. The result was a 620-page novel that became a three-hour movie.
6Shocking Set Visit
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When Stephen King visited the set, he asked to be strapped into Old Sparky to see how it felt. He did not like his experience in the electric chair and quickly asked to be released.
7Is it based on a true story?
No. However, there are some real-life parallels, such as the tragic case of George Stinney, a 14-year-old boy convicted of killing and possibly sexually assaulting two young girls in 1944. Despite being a minor, Stinney was executed by the electric chair the same year of his arrest and trial, and his guilt came into question many years too late. In 2014, a South Carolina circuit court judge voided the previous guilty verdict. It was determined that Stinney’s Sixth Amendment rights had been violated, and the judge also believed it likely that the boy’s confession had been coerced. Also like John Coffey, George Stinney had an all-white jury decide his fate.
8How they found the perfect actor for John Coffey
Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection
The producers were having trouble finding the right actor to fill the iconic role of John Coffey. Bruce Willis suggested the 6’5″ actor Michael Clarke Duncan; they had both just starred in Armageddon (1998). The Green Mile helped solidify Duncan as a star and a serious actor, as his role landed him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
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