Interesting facts about the production of the movie “Waiting for a Miracle”, responsible for making an entire generation cry

Waiting for a miracle, one of Stephen King’s most successful film adaptations, is one of the most thrilling films in film history. The film surpassed the mark of 100 million dollars (equivalent to 421 million reais) at the box office and was received with enthusiasm by the public. Both the director and the writer linked the film’s success to the good choice of its cast. The feature has been among the first positions in the lists of the best films in the world since its release and was nominated for an Oscar award in 4 categories, however it did not win the famous statuette.

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The idea of ​​the film adaptation of the book Waiting for a miracle instantly caught the attention of director Frank Darabont, who tried to recreate the story in the film as similar to the original as possible. Stephen King himself released the book in parts, so that the reader would not have a chance to know the ending before having read everything. And he himself couldn’t decide whether or not his hero would die until the final moments. According to Frank Darabont, a director can consider himself lucky when the actor he imagined when writing the script accepts his invitation to act on the recordings. In this case, for Frank only Tom Hanks should play Paul Edgecomb. And Stephen King thought the same, claiming that the actor was a perfect match for the role of the protagonist. Despite this, actor John Travolta was also considered for the role for a while. But he refused it outright. And that’s not to say the script won over Tom Hanks right away, as he ended up agreeing to the role out of a certain sense of indebtedness to the director — because of his performance in Forrest Gump: The Storyteller (1994), the actor had to turn down a job in the feature A dream of freedom (1994), directed by Frank Darabont, which left him feeling guilty. During the tests, a problem arose regarding the image of the character John Coffey: none of the actors who participated in the casting fit the profile that the production wanted. It was then that Bruce Willis suggested actor Michael Clarke Duncan, with whom he had acted in the film. Armageddon (1998). Michael read the script and said, “This is me. Regardless of what I have to do next, I have to play this role.”

After Michael Duncan’s death, the director said that, in his opinion, no actor deserved an Oscar as much as Michael for his role as John Coffey. But he ended up never receiving this prestigious award. The intriguing Percy Wetmore was played brilliantly by actor Doug Hutchison. In the book version, Percy was very young, but the actor was already 39 years old. He literally chased after the director to get that role, as well as lied saying he was 30 years old, hiding his documents.

Michael Duncan was actually quite tall, but he was roughly the same height as another main character — Brutus “Brutal” Howell, played by David Morse. So to create the image of a giant, the film’s producers used favorable angles, multiple platforms, and scaled-down copies of the set. Coffey’s prison bed was reduced so that the actor looked like a real giant inside it.

Coffey’s tears in the above image scene were real. The actor cried as he remembered how his father abandoned his family in his childhood. Michael Duncan’s impeccable performance ended up moving the entire production team — when recording the final scenes, almost no one was immune to tears. To fit the role, Tom Hanks had to gain a few pounds. And in the end, he managed to put on weight, but for the next role, in the movie castaway (2000), the actor had to lose a lot of weight quickly. Stephen King loved visiting the recording set. So that the writer could gauge whether everything was being done correctly, Tom Hanks liked to stay in character. Furthermore, the actor believed that staying as Paul also outside the studio could help him improve his acting. One day, Stephen King visited the set and invited Tom Hanks for coffee, but the actor flatly declined. “I can’t, Stephen,” replied the actor, “I’m responsible for a whole block of prison.”

According to the script, prison guard Percy is a very irritating person, responsible for making life for both his colleagues and the prisoners more difficult – and for that he is also hated by everyone. So Doug Hutchison wore especially noisy shoes so that everyone was naturally irritated by his presence. And the squeaks of the shoe can also be heard in the film.

The production reconstructed the pavilion set from the prison block exactly as described in the book. The prison was planned to be smaller, but as minimalist as possible. And so psychologists also worked on its projection — it was supposed to cause fear, rejection, and sadness in viewers. The production members themselves said that after many hours of working inside the prison set, they started to feel like they were in a real jail. Three electric chairs were made for the film, and the chair that served as a prototype for the creation of the ones in the film was the one in Sing Sing Prison in New York State. Despite this, in the 1930s, when the events of the film take place, the prisoner’s execution would probably have been carried out by hanging.

On one of his visits to the recording studios, Stephen King decided to sit in the electric chair. But he didn’t like the feeling she brought him at all. The writer is said to have been so impressed by the experience that he didn’t mince words to describe it right away.

Waiting for a miracle It is, without a doubt, one of the greatest productions in the history of cinema. What did you think of Tom Hanks’ performance? Do you think John Travolta would have performed as well? Tell us in the comments section.