20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Green Mile
13. The Older Paul Edgecomb
Originally, Hanks was set to play the older version of his character as well, but make-up tests just didn’t seem convincing enough.
Veteran character actor Dabbs Greer was hired to play the older Edgecomb because Darabont had been a huge fan of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958), both of which had benefited from Greer’s work.
It turned out to be Greer’s swan song in movies. At first, his poor health wouldn’t allow him to accept the part, but Darabont had his heart set on the casting and shot scenes around the character until Greer was well enough to come in.
His performance in The Green Mile came over sixty years after his first work as an extra in Westerns - and he died in 2007 after a long and rewarding career.