{"id":14950,"date":"2020-12-04T07:00:30","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T12:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=14950"},"modified":"2020-12-03T23:49:54","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T04:49:54","slug":"interview-frank-darabont-shawshank-redemption-green-mile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/interview-frank-darabont-shawshank-redemption-green-mile\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Frank Darabont on Hope and Miracles, Redemption, and Walking the Mile"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Frank Darabont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the Academy Award-nominated short film The Woman in the Room<\/em>, Frank Darabont\u2019s first writer\/director effort, to The Blob<\/em>, The Fly II<\/em>, The Mist<\/em>, the first season of The Walking Dead<\/em> and, of course, The Shawshank Redemption<\/em> and The Green Mile<\/em> and several more in between, Darabont has spent over thirty years creating films to capture, scare, and otherwise stir the hearts and minds across multiple generations of film fans across the globe. I got to corner the man himself by way of the phone to discuss Gauntlet Press\u2019s upcoming publication of their newest specialty title: Hope And Miracles: The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile (Two Screenplays By Frank Darabont)<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Join us we chat about Frank\u2019s contributions to making this book the highly collectable time capsule it\u2019s destined to become. Get comfortable as we delve into the undertaking of this massive project, reminisce about Darabont\u2019s experience during the making of these two iconic films, and the legacy of what this book has to offer for established and budding filmmakers alike.<\/p>\n

(Interview conducted by Rick Hipson<\/a>)<\/p>\n

CEMETERY DANCE: Regarding Hope And Miracles<\/em>, how did your collaboration with Barry Hoffman and Gauntlet Press come about?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\"coverFRANK DARABONT: Funny enough, I\u2019ve been a Gauntlet customer for many years. They publish a lot of cool books and I\u2019ve bought a lot of them. How this came about was actually pretty simple. Barry reached out to me and said, \u201cHey, what do you think of this idea? What do you think of publishing the book with two screenplays in it?\u201d I said, I think that\u2019s a fine idea, let\u2019s do it. What I hadn\u2019t anticipated was the effort that would go into it. I hadn\u2019t anticipated how the project would grow from just publishing the two scripts. Many people showed up that contributed to the book out of the goodness of their hearts. I was really touched by that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hard to fathom it\u2019s been twenty-five years since you wrote and directed The Shawshank Redemption<\/em> from Stephen King\u2019s novella (“Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”), and twenty years since The Green Mile<\/em>.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Tell me about it. Those years have zipped by so damn fast. It\u2019s really shocking to look back on how long ago that was. It\u2019s not an uncommon feeling as you enter your sixth decade of life, but man, it really does seem quite remarkable to think it was that long ago. There are adult people with children now who weren\u2019t born yet when that first movie came out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Absolutely. The crazy thing is, I\u2019ve got Amazon Prime, and I watched The Shawshank Redemption<\/em> maybe four weeks ago after I don\u2019t know how many times I\u2019ve seen it. I\u2019m still surprised how well the film holds up to this day. Same is true for both films, really.<\/b><\/p>\n

Thank you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike us, they don\u2019t seem to age all too much.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

(laughs) Honestly, that\u2019s really credit to Steve King. He\u2019s such a timeless, powerful storyteller. Such a talented, brilliant storyteller. Recently, I went back and re-read The Dead Zone<\/em>. I\u2019ll re-read The Stand<\/em> or Salem\u2019s Lot<\/em> every few years and boy, it\u2019s never not fresh. It never feels dated. There\u2019s a reason he\u2019s “Stephen King,” you know? He\u2019s brilliant at what he does. He\u2019s a storyteller for all time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other than putting words to a feeling I suppose, do you think there\u2019s any particular aspects that make his stories work so well and be so timeless, not just on the page, but in some of his filmed adaptations such as the ones that you got to work on?<\/b><\/p>\n

I think it really comes back to that word. I\u2019ve used it and I don\u2019t want to overuse it, but, timeless. He tells these timeless stories where certain fears and certain desires are as common to us as they were to our distant ancestors. Shakespeare was writing about these things hundreds of years ago. He was hoping for a better life, the struggle to survive, the struggle to get ahead. Loving people, hating people, I mean these are things that really don\u2019t change no matter how technologically advanced we get. Those primal feelings are still very common and I think that\u2019s the potency of his storytelling. That\u2019s what makes it timeless.<\/span><\/p>\n

I imagine it must have been a bit of a trip down memory lane to revisit these two projects after so many years since leaving the films behind for audiences to enjoy. What was this experience like for you? Any new surprises or feeling from revisiting your scripts?<\/b><\/p>\n

You know, it was kind of a pleasant feeling to read these scripts and feel they still held up pretty well. I thought oh, the writing\u2019s not bad here. I was reminded of a few scenes I never had time to shoot because of our schedule. I was reminded of those scenes and was just kind of sorry. Not that the audience has missed those scenes, because they were never even aware of those scenes. Would those scenes make for a better movie? Would the audience love the movie more or less now? Who\u2019s to say? But, yeah it was a bittersweet thing to go oh, yeah, there\u2019s that scene I never got to shoot. Mostly it was the technical effort and challenge of getting a really good looking copy of both scripts into Barry\u2019s (publisher) and Tyson (Blue)\u2019s (editor) and Dara (Hoffman-Fox)\u2019s (layout design) hands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The drafts I had left over in my file bin from years and years ago were just copies of copies and not very good looking. If the reader was going to go through the trouble and expense of owning this book, I wanted the scripts to look good for them. Of course, the computer programs they were printed on were no longer even accessible because they were so obsolete, so we literally had to retype every page of both scripts and then hunt down every typo and get every bit of formatting the same. It wound up being just a tremendous bit of physical and mentally exhausting endeavor.<\/span><\/p>\n

That sounds like a tedious journey.<\/b><\/p>\n

It really was. I have to compliment Barry on his patience. I have a feeling he would have loved to have released this book a year ago, but when you have to retype from scratch and then make sure that it\u2019s not riddled with typos and mistakes and all those problems, it just added a lot of time to the process. It\u2019s almost like editing a movie the old-fashioned way. There\u2019s a certain amount of physical drudgery involved.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you were going through all those files, finding what you had, what you could resurrect after all those years, how did you determine what would be presented in the book and what, if anything, would be left in obscurity when it was all said and done?<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019d have to pass that question off to Barry, Tyson and Dara. Beyond the two screenplays which I obviously needed to provide and the new introduction that I was anxious to write for the book, the book is really their achievement. They\u2019re the ones who made those decisions. It came as a surprise to me that people like RC Matheson — a wonderful guy — contributed to the book. Constantine Nasr, who\u2019s a very dear friend of mine and has done all my behind the scenes stuff, I didn\u2019t realize he was writing an essay for me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I handed my part off to them and let them take it from there. What they put together is really quite impressive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I also handed off a bunch of personal photographs from the production that I had come across, stuff that hadn\u2019t been published before. Again, I\u2019d let them make the decisions. I didn\u2019t want to micromanage their book. I wanted them to run with it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"theatricalAnd that they did. As a self-professed bonus feature nerd, one of the most unexpected pleasures I got from Hope and Miracles<\/em> was reading through the many changes that were made to the working script of Shawshank<\/em> during filming, some of which you confess to regretting not seeing through to the finished film. Is this standard operating procedure for most films, or was Shawshank<\/em> just that organic?<\/b><\/p>\n

Oh yeah, I think so. I had a conversation with Robert Benton once, a great screenwriter and filmmaker. I bumped into him at the Berlins Film Festival when Shawshank<\/em> had just come out. Robert Benton said how do you like directing? I said, man, I found it really hard. (laughs) I\u2019m not sure I want to do it again. And he said, I\u2019ll tell you why. I\u2019ll let you in on a little secret. Every day you go to the set with a certain set of creative ambitions for your movie, and every day you have to let a certain part of that go because the clock is ticking, you\u2019re on a schedule. You\u2019ve just got to let go of a chunk of what you wanted to do and you have to think on your feet and you have to simplify. He said that\u2019s difficult, it\u2019s emotionally difficult and he was absolutely right. I think its standard procedure. There\u2019s really a number of different phases. The screenplay is only one of them. As you\u2019re shooting, so many other things come into play and if you\u2019re smart you let those things not defeat you. You adapt as gracefully as you can under those circumstances. You realize oh gee, I don\u2019t have half a day to shoot this, I have an hour to shoot this so how am I going to do that? How am I going to do it in two shots instead of twelve? That kind of thing. It\u2019s literally the nature of it, I find, and I\u2019m not alone in that. Everybody who\u2019s ever directed I\u2019m sure has had to face that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, of course, comes my favorite part: the editing room. Here you\u2019re actually writing the last draft of the film. You\u2019re actually making the movie. Everything prior to is just generating raw materials for what you do in the editing room. That\u2019s when the movie really takes its shape.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where all the pieces are put together.<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah. It\u2019ll tell you if you\u2019ve made all the right decisions or it\u2019ll point out your mistakes or all the stuff you got right and it becomes its own organic thing. You just have to listen to it, really.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re in the hot seat and make major changes to an original story for the sake of cinematic reasoning, how much thought do you give to how fans — and the author — will react before said changes are a done deal?\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

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Stephen King<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yes and no. It\u2019s a really smart question. There is a part of your brain where you\u2019re going gee, I hope the author, I hope Stephen King likes this. I hope he\u2019s okay with what I\u2019m doing. I hope it pleases him. Certainly, you\u2019re always making a movie for an audience, for the fans as well, but given that I\u2019m one of those fans I figure if the choices I\u2019m making will please me it\u2019ll probably please them as well, or at least it won\u2019t piss them off too badly. And, of course, there is that point you reach where you get it in the can however you need to on that day so you don\u2019t fall behind your schedule. You cross your fingers and hope you can make it work in the editing room. Again, it\u2019s just part of the organic process of doing it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m always aware an audience is going to be watching. You don\u2019t make a movie for yourself. Well, I suppose some people do. You\u2019re always thinking, how is this going to work best for the viewers, for the emotional reaction I wanted to get or the laugh I wanted to get or their enjoyment? They\u2019re trusting me with two or three hours of their life.\u00a0 I want to try and reward them for that. Of course, starting off with a Stephen King story is a pretty good starting point.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Not too bad. You\u2019ve adapted, what, I think four Stephen King stories to date?<\/b><\/p>\n

Hmm, let\u2019s see. Yeah, four or five.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The Woman in the Room,” The Mist,<\/em> and these two?<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah, that\u2019s right. That\u2019s right.<\/span><\/p>\n

I suppose the obvious question to ask then, and you kind of touched on it a little bit when talking about the timelessness of the storytelling, but is there anything you find in particular about Stephen King stories that resonate and translate into film so well for you? I\u2019d love to know why you think Stephen King adaptations are so hit and miss as far as quality goes.<\/b><\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s really Steve\u2019s great knack for tapping into the people that he\u2019s writing, the understanding of humanity and people\u2019s emotions, their hopes and their fears and desires and ambitions and their tragedies. He\u2019s so damn good at making you feel those people. You\u2019re feeling for them or you\u2019re feeling against them. He\u2019s just so good at it. He\u2019s got such a great knack, and I think the movies that worked best focused on that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you see a really excellent move like\u00a0Stand By Me<\/em> or\u00a0Misery<\/em> or\u00a0Dolores Claiborne<\/em>, they\u2019re such good movies because they were very much focused on the humanity of Steve\u2019s writing. I think the movies that worked less were more concerned with trying to do it with effects, with monsters, and let\u2019s not worry too much about how people were feeling and try to throw a scare at the audience. Well, that kind of wears thin doesn\u2019t it?<\/span><\/p>\n

Absolutely. It really does.<\/b><\/p>\n

I mean, you see a movie like\u00a0The Dead Zone<\/em> — I loved The Dead Zone<\/em> — David Cronenberg is such a wonderful filmmaker. In fact, last night we watched\u00a0The Fly<\/em>. The very first time my wife had seen The Fly<\/em>, and she can\u2019t stop talking about it. I\u2019m a huge Cronenberg fan and I just thought The Dead Zone<\/em> was one of those early, really excellent movies. It\u2019s so focused on the anguish of that man. It\u2019s really wonderful, marvelous stuff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yeah, it really knew what it needed to do and didn\u2019t leave that path at all.<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yeah, that\u2019s right and I loved that Cronenberg, what he\u2019s making, is really so straightforward, and simplicity is not an easy thing to achieve. There\u2019s a lot of thought that goes into how he shoots his movies and I love it. I just think he\u2019s a master.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One hundred percent. And I think if you have a natural instinct for tapping into that particular voice with some of Stephen King\u2019s books, it definitely goes a long way. A perfect example I can think of is I watched The Mist<\/em> a couple of times when it came out and responded to its bleakness the way you probably intended me to. I mean that ending, which I know you changed quite a bit from what was originally in the book. I think now that I have a little boy of my own that film would likely crush me now like never before.<\/b><\/p>\n

(laughs) That\u2019s a compliment, thank you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have a secret sauce for knowing when to make changes from the written story and really getting under the skin of people watching it on screen?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Oh gosh. You know, the truth is, it\u2019s just instinct. Whether that\u2019s instinct you develop through years of experience or whether it was instinct that was there to begin with that you\u2019ve honed a bit. I really can\u2019t say, but it\u2019s like any creative effort, really. I think there\u2019s some instinct involved. I\u2019m very grateful that my instincts as a storyteller happen to vibe with Stephen King\u2019s instincts.\u00a0 When he hits a home run\u2026 boy, I really feel it as a reader, as a guy who\u2019s experienced the story he\u2019s told me. I\u2019m just so privileged that I\u2019ve been able to steal some of his stories for myself, to co-op them as it were, and then having the privilege of translating them to the screen. I really can\u2019t say enough about the man. Steve is truly one of the most remarkable humans. Not just gifted, but generous and kind to people. He really gives a lot back and I\u2019m incredibly grateful to him. I always say I don\u2019t think I\u2019d have a directing career if it wasn\u2019t for Stephen King.<\/span><\/p>\n

And it all started with a dollar.<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah, exactly. That\u2019s a great example, and there\u2019s not much more than that you can say. The whole Dollar Baby thing, who else thinks of that? Steve King did. I have to say I\u2019ve been privileged to work with some extraordinarily gifted and kind people. Not just Steve King, but Tom Hanks. I mean he\u2019s a paragon of decency and kindness. So many of my colleagues in front of the camera and behind the camera, I just think back on those experiences. Those really are what made all the work worth it. The memories of working with some of those people, it\u2019s been awesome. I\u2019m sorry we\u2019ve lost a few of them, like Michael Clarke Duncan. I just adored him. I had such a special experience. I don\u2019t know if you read my introduction to the book.<\/span><\/p>\n

I did.<\/b><\/p>\n

His journey as an artist, to see his talent blossom on my watch. I can\u2019t replace that experience. I can\u2019t buy something you can treasure. I have such great love and affection for those books and movies. It\u2019s those books that made it possible. Thank God for Rob Reiner and everybody at Castle Rock. I\u2019m pretty serious when I say I don\u2019t think I could get these movies made today. I\u2019m a very grateful beneficiary of the fact they were there making those kinds of movies and backing filmmakers like me at that time. I just can\u2019t be grateful enough, truly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It seemed they were true fans of films trying to see other great films getting made and had the resources to do it.<\/b><\/p>\n

That\u2019s right. Creative freedom and creative respect are two of the rarest coins in the realm of Hollywood. I mean, I\u2019m shocked at how little else of it I found. I found it in other places for sure, and I could mention some other projects and other names where I had that really pleasant and nice experience, but never to the degree of Castle Rock when I made those movies. They were just the best. I\u2019m sorry they\u2019re not still around. I might still be making movies, who knows?<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s hoping for the future on that.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, thank-you very kindly. I appreciate that.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"theatrical<\/p>\n

I think you\u2019ve already answered my next question to some degree, but when you were scouring through all your files for Hope And Miracles<\/em>, did you find most of your cherished memories from making Shawshank<\/em> and The Green Mile<\/em> to stand the test of time, or were there any moments you maybe hadn\u2019t realized were so memorable until coming across again after so long?<\/b><\/p>\n

You know, I think you\u2019re right that I did pretty much answer that question. At the risk of repeating the answer, there\u2019s so much effort and so much exhaustion and so much pressure, so much stressing under the best of circumstances. You want to be making your days when you\u2019re directing your movie even if the studio is Castle Rock and they\u2019re the kindest, most understanding people in the world. You still want to make your days. They\u2019re not beating you up, you\u2019re beating yourself up trying to do right by the movie and trying to do right by the schedule and right by the budget. All that transitory pain, that dwindles in your memory and what you wind up with are the memories of the great moments on a set where an actor runs through his take. Like when Michael Clarke Duncan just suddenly appears in the movie.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like that scene with the twins. Gets me every time.<\/b><\/p>\n

\"photo
Michael Clarke Duncan walks the mile.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of my favorite memories from The Green Mile<\/em> was, I guess you could call it the Oscar scene. It\u2019s the one that I\u2019m sure got Michael Clarke Duncan nominated in the supporting actor category. It\u2019s where he sits in his cell and he talks to Paul (Tom Hanks) about the pain he feels in the world and says it feels like pieces of glass in his head. I remember when he did that take, I just about fell off my apple box with what was happening. I also very much cherished the memory of Tom\u2019s generosity. He\u2019s a big-ass movie star, but <\/span>he\u2019s not the kind of guy where you would ever know he\u2019s a big-ass movie star. He never minded if I started shooting Michael\u2019s side of the scene first because he knew Michael was less experienced. Maybe he\u2019s going to be great in the first three takes and you don\u2019t want to miss it if he is, right? Most movie stars, they want to be shot first and then everybody else gets to be shot after. But Tom, if I started on the other guy, if I started on Michael, he saw the wisdom in it because Tom\u2019s a really smart and generous guy. He\u2019s a really smart filmmaker himself by the way. <\/span><\/p>\n

I remember seeing Tom acting his heart out off-camera for Michael in that scene to the point I was worried Tom was going to run out of gas. He\u2019s delivering this astonishing performance off-camera to help Michael get there emotionally, to help Michael deliver that performance. When you see that kind of wisdom and generosity from somebody that I saw from Tom Hanks that day, that\u2019s a memory that never goes away. That memory always makes me glow. And the people who were there that day that saw it, I promise you they haven\u2019t forgotten it either. I promise David Morse has told that story countless times. I\u2019m certain of it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Those incredible moments, those are the moments you really hold on to. Those incredible moments with the actor connecting to the material or you connecting with the actor or when you see the movie unfolding during a take. It\u2019s like oh, man, we\u2019ve got the magic in the bottle now because of what that actor did or what his fellow actor did to help him get there. Those are the things you really think of. That\u2019s what I think of. You remember the good stuff and not so much the bad.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think that\u2019s a good thing.<\/b><\/p>\n

Oh man, it sure is. You don\u2019t dwell on the pressure or the clock or the budget and all that stuff. You don\u2019t dwell on problems. You dwell on those brilliant moments of human generosity and creative flow. That\u2019s what makes it so exciting. I always said I hate the movie business, but I love the art of making movies. I feel really privileged to be able to have dipped my toe in the water a few times, so I\u2019m good. I\u2019m happy with those, you know?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Regarding the legacy of those two great films, what do you think the Hope and Miracles<\/em> book adds to the legacy that is\u00a0The Shawshank Redemption<\/em> and\u00a0The Green Mile<\/em>?<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, certainly both films have generated a tremendous fan base through the years. Shawshank<\/b> especially seems to be one of those movies that people hand off to the next generation. People are showing it to their kids and then it becomes like a family event. I\u2019ve heard from so many people who sit at a certain time of the year and watch The Shawshank Redemption<\/em>. Just like when I was a kid, we\u2019d sit at a certain time of year and watch The Wizard of Oz<\/em>. I\u2019m like, wow! That\u2019s an amazing result, isn\u2019t it? So, if nothing else, with thanks to Barry and his colleagues at Gauntlet, I love how there\u2019s this book that\u2019s going to commemorate that for the people who love those movies and love Stephen King stories. I\u2019m honored and flattered there\u2019s a nice hardbound permanent heirloom publication. I\u2019m really honored and pleased by that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On a really practical level, I love getting my screenplays out there so people who want to become screenwriters, have access to the screenplays and read them and go: so, that\u2019s what a screenplay looks like? Oh, this one\u2019s kind of interesting. So, this is how Frank Darabont wrote it? Maybe it will help inspire some youngsters to write or will help guide them in some way. I remember when I was a kid, published screenplays didn\u2019t really exist. You\u2019re sitting there hanging out in junior high school or high school thinking shit, I\u2019d like to be a screenwriter some day, but I don\u2019t even know what a screenplay looks like. I\u2019ve never had a chance to read one.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nowadays, of course, you\u2019ve got access to pretty much anything. The published screenplay became a thing when my career was starting. They started publishing things like that and I was actually able to get my hands on classic screenplays, some great ones. Even as a professional by then, even as a guy who was making a living doing it, it was a wonderful thing being able to grab a screenplay I loved and read it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Probably even more so.<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah! Oh, so that\u2019s how William Goldman wrote that? Oh, that\u2019s interesting. You read a great screenplay and it\u2019s tremendously inspiring. It\u2019s a great reading experience. I remember Quentin Tarantino slipping me the script to Kill Bill<\/em>. I got the chance to read that even before he made the movie and I was knocked out by it. It\u2019s a great reading experience even if you don\u2019t see the movie. Not all screenplays do that. A lot of them are actually quite difficult to get through. But, the good ones? Oh man, they capture you. They grab you. Quentin\u2019s a great writer. William Goldman was a great writer. Paddy Chayefsky was a great writer. Read any of their screenplays and if you\u2019re interested in being a screenwriter, those are among the names I would certainly recommend. You\u2019re on your way. At the very least you\u2019ll know what the format of a screenplay page looks like. On a practical level, I\u2019m glad these scripts are going to be out there.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Absolutely. Plus, the way your screenplays are complimented in the book with all the bonus behind-the-scenes stuff, people can better appreciate how things can happen during filming that might force the director to have to let go of or change certain parts of the screenplay in order to best serve the movie being told through that screenplay.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah, that\u2019s a great point in fact. That\u2019s a great point when you read the screenplay. For example, looking back on my own script, things I thought were absolutely vital and had to be in the movie, sometimes you\u2019re in the editing room having shot that and you\u2019re going, why did I think I needed <\/span>this<\/span><\/i>? This is disposable, this line of dialogue or this half of a scene or this event or whatever. You never really know until you\u2019re editing if the movie is telling you what it wants to be when you\u2019re editing it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s reassuring to know that\u2019s part of the process. The script really should be a good blueprint. That doesn\u2019t mean there isn\u2019t room to adjust as you go along or even improvise as you go along, but it is a blueprint. It\u2019s not the finished house. The finished house is the finished house. The blueprint is the blueprint. So yeah, seeing how things do and can evolve because of time, circumstances (such as) a set fell over, an actor got sick or an actor had a great idea. You learn a lot by reading a script of a film you\u2019re familiar with. That\u2019s what I found as a guy who started reading screenplays when they became available.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a really good point you make. Part of the learning process isn\u2019t just seeing what worked, but what didn\u2019t work or what wasn\u2019t necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

I imagine the challenge as a screenwriter, if you\u2019re not going to direct your own film, is to know you have to connect with the right kind of director<\/b> who will at least see those points during the script and understand any necessary changes.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Oh, boy, you said a mouthful. That was the headline comment of the day what you just said, because in my experience, not counting my own movies, I\u2019ve had more disappointments than results where I\u2019ve jumped up and said wow, great, I\u2019m so proud of this. Some screenwriters have had better luck than I have connecting with a director. Unless you really connect with that director and those instincts you\u2019re going to wind up disappointed with what that director did to your script. That\u2019s an unfortunate side effect of being a working screenwriter. Those disappointing experiences where more the case for me than not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having said that, I\u2019ve had a great thirty-year run (laughs). That\u2019s pretty amazing itself looking back on it. From a kid that was hoping of maybe becoming a screenwriter, maybe becoming a director then looking back on it going wow, man, that kicked in. Thirty years straight of work. Not many people can say that. I\u2019m counting my blessings these days is what I\u2019m saying.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking of your thirty years in movies and thirty years of fans as each generation bleeds into the next, it\u2019s interesting that although Shawshank<\/em>\u00a0and The Green Mile<\/em> certainly do have their dark elements, The Green Mile<\/em> in particular, they\u2019re not exactly considered horror per se<\/em>, but remain widely regarded by horror fans all the same. Why do you think these films fare so well with horror fans despite the (mostly) lack of blood and gore in these two particular films?<\/b><\/p>\n

\"photo
Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins share a light moment in The Shawshank Redemption.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Well, I think there\u2019s that magic fairy dust that Stephen King has that rubs off of people. When you have that kind of devoted fan base that Steve has you can write anything and they\u2019re going to be interested in whatever subject, whatever venue, whatever genre he wants to try on. We\u2019ll go along with him because we love him and he always delivers as a storyteller. Certainly, if Shawshank<\/em> existed by itself without Stephen King\u2019s connection to it, I\u2019m not sure if the horror fan base would have noticed it much. It would probably be off by itself like Driving Miss Daisy<\/em>\u00a0or one of those movies. The fact Steve King wrote it has a lot to do with that. Then again, the answer goes a lot deeper than the surface. Again, it\u2019s those incredible storytelling instincts that Steve King uses when he tells a story that generates the motor, you know? Generates the engine for the film. It\u2019s the same instincts he uses to write a horror piece so of course it\u2019s going to be appealing. You can\u2019t not be compelled by what the man puts down.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s very true. I mean, I read an entire book of his of a girl walking through the woods listening to her favorite sports announcer and that was fantastic.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

(laughs) Exactly.<\/span><\/p>\n

I always said he could literally write a novel — well, he has, hasn\u2019t he? — about a woman chained to the bed. He wrote a story about a bunch of people in a supermarket with “The Mist.” Nobody writes I\u2019m-trapped-in-this-one-place better than Stephen King. He could put an entire novel inside a stalled elevator and he would have you on the edge of your seat. He\u2019s amazing that way. I love that about him. I don\u2019t know how he does that. I have no idea how he pulls that off.<\/span><\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s the fairy dust you mentioned.<\/b><\/p>\n

Oh, yeah.<\/span><\/p>\n

He just has something flowing through him and you\u2019re apparently the kind of guy who has a butterfly net that\u2019s good enough to catch some of it and put on the screen.<\/b><\/p>\n

He can\u2019t not be interesting (laughs). No matter how he does it, he can\u2019t not be interesting. Everything he writes has a compulsion that takes care of you. I can\u2019t praise the man enough.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a way tie in with the title of the book we\u2019re having this wonderful conversation about — Hope And Miracles<\/em> — if I may ask, what miracles do you most hope for as we get through our current global pandemic and state of political and social turmoil?<\/b><\/p>\n

My fondest hope? I feel like one of those beauty pageants…”Oh, what do you want? I want peace on Earth and good will to all men.” (laughs)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I wish could remember to operate from a place of decency better. The Golden Rule seems to be something forgotten about today. Its been plowed under by greed and downright meanness and I don\u2019t understand why that is. Everyone\u2019s trying to get over on the other person. Score points. Bury the other guy. I don\u2019t understand that. I don\u2019t get it. You can see that I don\u2019t get it in my movies. You look at Shawshank<\/em> and The Green Mile<\/em> and you hold that up against The Mist<\/em>, you\u2019ll see how I feel about humanity and what I think we\u2019re capable of. There\u2019s another reason I love Stephen King stories so much. He talks about those very things that matter to me most. I think that\u2019s why his readership loves him so much. I wish people would chill out and just embrace the idea that we\u2019re all in it together. It\u2019s not at the expense of one another we should move ahead. It should be for the common good. It should be for the betterment of all. There\u2019s so many insane childish things going on right now. I hope we grow up a little bit. I\u2019ve been hoping for that since I was a kid.<\/span><\/p>\n

You look at history which is pretty much defined by bloodshed and conflict. Well, when exactly are we going to grow up? It\u2019s an interesting question. I\u2019ve got my fingers crossed. I\u2019m not holding my breath either. That\u2019s what Shawshank<\/em> says: I\u2019ve got my fingers crossed. The Mist <\/i>says: I ain\u2019t holding my breath.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting you mention that as a common thread to those films. I\u2019m honestly surprised I hadn\u2019t considered it until now that you\u2019ve got these very confined places where there\u2019s a big group of people with all these amazing resources and they should be able to collaborate, but for some reason they\u2019re not. They\u2019re all divided.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\"theatricalRight. Well, it wasn\u2019t actually until I was in the editing room when I realized it\u2019s the counterpoint in Shawshank<\/em> where you feel the movie thematically. Shawshank<\/em> really is a movie about the value of hope. The Mist<\/em> is about the destruction of hope. One is about the heights you can scale by holding onto hope and the other is the depths you can plunge to by letting go of it. I think they\u2019re pretty interesting companion pieces, those two movies, for that reason.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Going back to Stephen King, credit to Steve for having written those, but I thought it was interesting that both movies very much hinged on that one thematic headline word: hope. It\u2019s just how we treat hope. It gives you the beautiful beach, or you\u2019re screaming by the side of the road while they\u2019re burning monsters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the fun of storytelling, of being a storyteller for a living. When you have those little realizations and go aha! It\u2019s cool to do movies in balanced, diametric opposition to each other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is there anything else you\u2019d like to add regarding why folks need this book on their shelf, or about any project you might be working on next for us all to sink our greedy teeth into?<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, thanks for that opportunity. I\u2019m not really working on anything in particular. I might be sliding into semi-retirement here. Once you\u2019ve had three decades of deadlines and pressure zoom by, you kind of want to slow down a bit. Right now, I\u2019m mostly just enjoying the quiet. I\u2019m very much enjoying my marriage. I\u2019m very much enjoying it, which is a first. (laughs) We just celebrated our eighth anniversary, which blows my mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wow, happy anniversary!<\/b><\/p>\n

Thank you. I love her more now than the day I married her, and that\u2019s a nice thing to be able to say. We\u2019ve got our five little rescue dogs and we do our charity work on the side. Living on the central coast of California and not in the insane pit of psychic toxic energy that is Los Angeles now. I wake up every day and count my blessings and kind of get on with things.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If something else arises that can really stir my spirit, my creative urges again, then I\u2019ll follow those instincts, if they let me. But, at the moment? Nothing in particular. I\u2019m just grateful for the opportunities I\u2019ve had so far and I\u2019m really grateful to Barry Hoffman and Tyson and Dara and Gauntlet for doing this. It\u2019s an honor to have these screenplays published as something worthwhile and special. All the folks who\u2019ve jumped in and helped make the book a little bit special by making a contribution to it, writing an essay or writing a journal entry. I\u2019m really flattered by that, really moved by that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m appreciative as well we can all enjoy their contributions in one big package with Hope and Miracles<\/em>. I also feel sort of bad for hoping you\u2019re not taking your semi-retirement too seriously so we can see more of your stuff, but I am glad to hear you\u2019re kicking back and enjoying the fruits.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Hey man, if something else comes along all you\u2019ve got to do is give me a call and we\u2019ll talk about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

I really appreciate that, Frank. It was an honor to chat with you and I\u2019d be doubly honored to help spread the word on anything else you might cook up down the road.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, bless your heart, Rick. This was a total pleasure. Awesome interview, great conversation and I thank you for your time. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the Academy Award-nominated short film The Woman in the Room, Frank Darabont\u2019s first writer\/director effort, to The Blob, The Fly II, The Mist, the first season of The Walking Dead and, of course, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile and several more in between, Darabont has spent over thirty years creating films to … Continue Reading! “Interview: Frank Darabont on Hope and Miracles, Redemption, and Walking the Mile”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[2129,1099,2208,307,2207,29,121,166],"class_list":["post-14950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-frank-darabont","tag-gauntlet-press","tag-hope-and-miracles","tag-interviews","tag-rick-hipson","tag-stephen-king","tag-the-green-mile","tag-the-shawshank-redemption"],"yoast_head":"\nInterview: Frank Darabont on Hope and Miracles, Redemption, and Walking the Mile - 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