Fan Casting Brooks Hatlen in The Shawshank Redemption (2025)

Brooks Hatlen is an elderly inmate who has spent most of his life inside Shawshank, becoming a quiet fixture of the prison’s routine. Gentle, bookish, and deeply institutionalized, he finds comfort in the predictability of prison life and forms a strong bond with the library and a pet bird he cares for. When he’s finally released, the outside world feels alien and overwhelming, leading to a heartbreaking decline.