Michael Clarke Duncan Stars With Tom Hanks In Powerful Film `The Green Mile'

Jet, Dec 20, 1999

Noted actor Michael Clarke Duncan delivers a powerful, heartfelt performance in the new movie, The Green Mile, which stars Tom Hanks.

Duncan brings intrigue and mystery as John Coffey, a massive, 7-foot Death Row inmate convicted of brutally murdering two White girls in the 1930s.

He certainly has the size and strength to kill, but his demeanor starkly contrasts his appearance.

Beyond his simple, naive nature and a deathly fear of the dark, Coffey seems to have mysterious, supernatural powers.

Hanks stars as Paul Edgecomb, the Death Row guard who develops a friendship with the inmate and begins to question if Coffey is truly guilty of murdering the two girls. Edgecomb learns through his friendship with Coffey that sometimes miracles happen in the most unexpected places.

"John Coffey is one of the biggest men that anybody has ever seen," says Duncan. "He's 7 feet tall and 330 pounds-an apparent cold-blooded murderer with two dead girls in his arms. But John Coffey is also a very special individual who understands Paul, sees the kindness that is in Paul and most of the other guards. And that's kind of the ironic twist to it."

The Green Mile is winning rave reviews and has become the must-see movie of this season. Critics and fans agree that Duncan, who appeared in Armageddon and Bulworth, delivers an emotion-packed performance that is worthy of an Oscar.