It’s a challenge to find someone who hasn’t watched the classic movie The Shawshank Redemption. It turns out there is a real-life “Red” Redding, the memorable prison inmate played by iconic actor Morgan Freeman.

Mitchell Rutledge is in prison in Alabama, and he’s been there for nearly 40 years. He was guilty of his crime, a murder he committed as a teenager. Many people who have interacted with Mitch during his four decades in prison see remarkable similarities in his character with “Red.”