- Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne: A banker sentenced to life in prison in 1947 for the murder of his wife and her lover[3]
- Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding: A prison contraband smuggler who befriends Andy[4][5]
- Bob Gunton as Samuel Norton: The pious and cruel warden of Shawshank penitentiary[3]
- William Sadler as Heywood: A member of Red's gang of long-serving convicts[4][6]
- Clancy Brown as Byron Hadley: The brutal captain of the prison guards[7][8]
- Gil Bellows as Tommy Williams: A young convict imprisoned for burglary in 1965[4][9]
- James Whitmore as Brooks Hatlen: The elderly prison librarian, imprisoned at Shawshank for over five decades[10]
The cast also includes Mark Rolston as Bogs Diamond, the head of "the Sisters" gang and a prison rapist;[11] Jeffrey DeMunn as the prosecuting attorney in Dufresne's trial; Alfonso Freeman as Fresh Fish Con; Ned Bellamy and Don McManus as, respectively, prison guards Youngblood and Wiley; and Dion Anderson as Head Bull Haig.[4] Renee Blaine portrays Andy's wife, and Scott Mann portrays her golf-instructor lover Glenn Quentin.[12] Frank Medrano plays Fat Ass, one of Andy's fellow new inmates who is beaten to death by Hadley,[4][13] and Bill Bolender plays Elmo Blatch, a convict who may actually be responsible for the crimes for which Andy is convicted.[14] James Kisicki and Claire Slemmer portray the Maine National Bank manager and a teller, respectively.[15][16]
