20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Green Mile
16. He Was Also A Treasure
After his tragic early passing, Tom Hanks gave his former co-star a moving tribute, calling him "the treasure we all discovered on the set of The Green Mile."
Producer David Valdes recalls Duncan being the heart and soul of the shoot, loved by cast and crew alike, and remembers Hanks actually crying on the big man’s last day on set.
That powerful, sensitive performance didn’t come from any formal training. They’d hired an acting coach for him, a man named Larry Moss, who’d told him that ‘Big Mike’ (as all Duncan’s friends called him) wouldn’t be able to play the part - he’d need to find Little Mike first.
Duncan was forced to recognise that the muscularity and intimidating presence that had served him so well in smaller roles wasn’t what he needed to rely on to play John Coffey:
"I think John Coffey is an angel. That is the best way I can describe it. Any time you give of yourself and don’t ask for anything in return, I think that is very angelic. And, to want to see the simple things. I think that says a lot about his spirit. And, you have this man if he could, if he had the heart of a villain, there would be no cell in that town that could hold him. It is very humble, and nice and sweet."
He tapped into that childlike confusion and hurt that he’d felt when his father walked out on the family when he was a kid - and the results speak for themselves.