Ellis "Red" Redding is the narrator of Andy's story at Shawshank. He is already an inmate to Shawshank when Andy Dufresne arrives. Red is the inmate who can get anything on the inside for favors. Ellis is black, and has many connections inside and outside the prison. He finds an interest in Andy, but for some reason he doesn't know why. His charismatic behavior makes him easy to get along with in the prison. As easy as he is to like from inside the prison, the board refuses to listen to him about being a changed man. I picked Denzel Washington to represent Redding because he is black and well liked among all movie watchers.