# Brad Renfro

Brad Barron Renfro (July 25, 1982 – January 15, 2008) was an American actor. He made his film debut at age 11 with a starring role in The Client (1994). Renfro went on to appear in 21 feature films and won several awards.
Prior to being cast in The Client, Renfro had no acting background and was living with his grandmother in a trailer park. Wanting to cast a "tough kid" who had the life experience to understand the character he would portray, director Joel Schumacher chose Renfro to play the role of Mark Sway. Renfro soon attracted a large fanbase as he continued to star in films such as The Cure, Tom and Huck, Sleepers, Apt Pupil, Bully and Ghost World.
Beginning in the late 1990s, Renfro experienced difficulties in his private life, including drug addiction and a series of arrests. He died at age 25 of acute heroin and morphine intoxication.

## Early childhood

Renfro was born on July 25, 1982, in Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of Angela Denise Olsen (née McCrory) and Mark Renfro, a factory worker. He was raised from the age of five by his paternal grandmother, Joanne Renfro, a church secretary, after his parents divorced. The actor reportedly did not have a close relationship with his father.

## Acting career

At the age of 10, Renfro was discovered by Mali Finn, a casting director for Joel Schumacher. He was recommended to Finn by a former D.A.R.E. officer of his, who was captivated by Renfro's charm and street smarts. He had no prior acting experience or training at the time. Finn had contacted various agencies that worked with youth; she was looking to cast a "tough" kid and settled on Renfro after looking at 5,000 such boys all over the United States. At the time, Renfro had been living in a trailer park outside Knoxville with his grandmother. "I wanted a kid who understood in the marrow of his psyche what it was like to grow up too soon," Schumacher later told The New York Times.
Renfro was cast by Finn in the lead role of Mark Sway in Schumacher's The Client. His casting was announced in May 1993, and the movie was filmed in the summer of that year. Based on the bestselling John Grisham novel, The Client became one of the top-grossing films of 1994. In 1995, he won The Hollywood Reporter's "Young Star" award, and in 1996 was nominated as one of People magazine's "30 Under 30" list.
Renfro played Huckleberry Finn in 1995's Tom and Huck. He also won a second "Young Star" award, as well as a "Young Artist" award, for his performance in The Cure.
In 1996, Renfro appeared in Sleepers, which was based on the novel of the same name by Lorenzo Carcaterra. The film was directed by Barry Levinson and Renfro played the younger version of co-star Brad Pitt's character. The following year, Renfro starred in Telling Lies in America, directed by Guy Ferland.
In 1998, he starred in Apt Pupil, directed by Bryan Singer, for which he won the Best Actor award at Tokyo International Film Festival and was also nominated for a Saturn Award. The several films Renfro starred in that followed gained little attention, with the majority going straight to video. He played Leon S. Kennedy in a live-action ad for Resident Evil 2 directed by George A. Romero, which aired in Japan. He went on to act in other films, including 2001's Ghost World, Bully, Happy Campers, Tart;D 2002's " Dueces Wild "American Girl; and 2005's The Jacket. He also appeared in the 2006 Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Watch" and completed filming on the film The Informers.
Renfro appeared in the first version of the music video for the 10 Years song "Wasteland"; his cousin, Jesse Hasek, is the band's lead singer. He was also featured in the video for the N.E.R.D song "Provider", playing the part of a petty drug dealer.

## Personal life

Renfro had a son, who was born in Japan in 2003 and was raised there by his mother, a Japanese citizen. Prior to Renfro's death, the public had been unaware he had a son, and mention of him did not appear in his obituary, though his son was eventually named in the obituary of Renfro's mother, Angela, who died in 2012.

### Substance abuse and criminal record

On June 3, 1998, Renfro, then 15, and his 19-year-old cousin were arrested near Knoxville and charged with drug possession. Renfro was carrying two small bags of cocaine in a cigarette box and a bag of marijuana in his sock. He entered into a plea bargain in which he agreed to random drug tests.
By the age of 18, Renfro had already been in drug rehabilitation more than once. On August 28, 2000, he and a friend attempted to steal a yacht from the Fort Lauderdale harbor. Renfro was charged with grand theft and criminal mischief; in January 2001, he was sentenced to two years' probation and ordered to pay investigative costs and yacht repair costs. By this time, his encounters with the law had given him a complicated reputation: while still seen as a teenage idol, he was also known for his drug abuse. Renfro criticized the press and reporters who tried to interview him, saying, "You can just feel the slime on them", and called movie critics "the fat kids in high school that nobody liked, so they're out there to get you".
Renfro violated his probation in May 2001 when he was arrested for underage drinking. On January 14, 2002, he violated his probation again and was arrested on charges of public intoxication and driving without a valid license in Knoxville. He was placed into a three-month substance abuse treatment program as a result.
On November 24, 2005, Renfro was arrested in Los Angeles and charged with a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence and two counts of driving with a suspended license, leading to 10 days in jail and 18 months of alcohol education classes. He was arrested by LAPD officers on December 22, 2005, during an undercover drug sweep of Skid Row. Following that arrest, he was charged with attempted possession of heroin. A photograph showing him in handcuffs made the front page of the Los Angeles Times. Renfro admitted to a detective that he was using heroin and methadone. He pleaded guilty, was sentenced to three years' probation, and was fined $450. In May 2006, he spent 10 days in jail for driving while under the influence and attempted heroin possession.
In June 2007, Renfro was found to have violated his probation by failing to enroll in a long-term drug treatment program. A judge warned him that if he violated probation twice more he could be sentenced to a live-in rehabilitation program or to jail.
Following Renfro's death in January 2008, his cousin Jesse Hasek stated that Renfro and his son had visited him several days earlier and that Renfro had made positive changes in his life. According to Hasek, "He had hit rock bottom and had come way back up."

## Death

Renfro was found dead on January 15, 2008, in his Los Angeles apartment, at the age of 25. His body was returned to Tennessee, where he was buried on January 22, 2008, at Red House Cemetery in the small town of Blaine, Tennessee. On February 8, 2008, the Los Angeles County Coroner's office ruled his death accidental, attributing it to acute heroin/morphine intoxication.
Seventeen days after Renfro's death, his grandmother Joanne—who had accompanied him regularly during his early acting career—died at her home at the age of 76. Local officials said she died of natural causes.

## Legacy

Renfro was omitted from the "In Memoriam" tribute montage at the 80th Academy Awards in the year following his death. Perceived by the press as a "snub", his omission from the Oscars received widespread media coverage.
Renfro's roommate, Mark Foster of Foster the People, wrote a song about his death called "Downtown". The song was included on a deluxe edition of the band's 2011 debut album Torches.
In 2012, the art magazine The Thing Quarterly reported that actor James Franco had the name "Brad" tattooed on his right shoulder in memory of Renfro. Franco also produced a limited-edition series of switchblades bearing the words "Brad Renfro" and "Forever."
In 2018, 10 years after Renfro's death, and again the following year, the website BuzzFeed devoted a long article to recounting his rise and descent. The article discussed whether the film industry adequately protects the welfare of at-risk child actors. BuzzFeed found no evidence that laws or contractual provisions had been violated on Renfro's films, but suggested that the industry had failed the actor by not ensuring that he was appropriately supervised when he was off the movie set.
Fernando Altschul, the first assistant director of Apt Pupil, told BuzzFeed that he saw a 14-year-old Renfro at an on-set party where alcohol was available. According to Altschul, Renfro was the only underage attendee.
During Renfro's early career, his worldliness and self-confidence caused many adults who came into contact with him to believe that he was some years older than his actual age. Gemma Jackson, production designer on Tom and Huck, remembered Renfro as being 15 or 16 years of age during filming when he was actually 13. Jackson recounted to BuzzFeed that during production, Renfro had a girlfriend who was several years his senior. He developed an ardent following among adolescent girls; Peter Horton, director of The Cure, recalled that Renfro—who had just turned 12—received cards from girls in Stillwater, Minnesota, that contained sexually suggestive messages.
Renfro's apparent maturity was reflected in his onscreen portrayals. In his early roles, he was often sexualized and shown shirtless. In Apt Pupil, Renfro was shown showering. He also performed scenes with sexual and violent content.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1994 | The Client | Mark Sway | |
| 1995 | The Cure | Erik | |
| 1995 | Tom and Huck | Huckleberry Finn | |
| 1996 | Sleepers | Young Michael Sullivan | |
| 1997 | Telling Lies in America | Karchy "Chucky" Jonas | |
| 1998 | Apt Pupil | Todd Bowden | |
| 1999 | 2 Little, 2 Late | Jimmy Walsh | |
| 2000 | Herschel Hopper: New York Rabbit | Tanner | |
| 2000 | Skipped Parts | Dothan Talbot | |
| 2001 | Bully | Marty Puccio | Also associate producer |
| 2001 | Ghost World | Josh | |
| 2001 | Happy Campers | Wichita | |
| 2001 | Tart | William Sellers | |
| 2001 | The Theory of the Leisure Class | Billy | |
| 2002 | American Girl | Jay Grubb | |
| 2002 | Deuces Wild | Bobby | |
| 2003 | Citizen Tony | Thoren (voice) | Television film |
| 2003 | The Job | Troy Riverside | |
| 2004 | Mummy an' the Armadillo | Wyatte | |
| 2005 | Hollywood Flies | Jamie | |
| 2005 | The Jacket | The Stranger | |
| 2006 | 10th and Wolf | Vincent | |
| 2008 | The Informers | Jack | Posthumous release; final role; dedicated in memory |
| 2025 | George A. Romero's Resident Evil | Himself | Archive footage |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2000 | Recess | (Voice) | Episode: "Germ Warfare" |
| 2000 | Teacher's Pet | Miles (voice) | Episode: “Movin' on Pup/Escaping Dog Trick” |
| 2003 | Slumber Party with Madonna and Dana Pullman | Charles Polka | Episode: Sleeper by the Dozen |
| 2006 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Duane Winslow | Episode: "Watch" |

### Music videos

| Year | Artist | Title |
| 1998 | The Rolling Stones | "Gimme Shelter" |
| 2002 | N.E.R.D | "Provider" |
| 2005 | 10 Years | "Wasteland'" |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Results |
| 1995 | Chicago Film Critics Association | Most Promising Actor | The Client | Nominated |
| 1995 | YoungStar Awards | Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama Film | The Cure | Won |
| 1995 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance by a Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture | The Client | Won |
| 1996 | YoungStar Awards | Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy Film | Tom and Huck | Nominated |
| 1996 | Young Artist Awards | Young Artist Award for Best Young Leading Actor in a Feature Film (shared with Joseph Mazzello) | The Cure | Nominated |
| 1997 | YoungStar Awards | Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama Film | Sleepers | Nominated |
| 1998 | Tokyo International Film Festival | Best Actor Award | Apt Pupil | Won |
| 1999 | Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films | Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor | Apt Pupil | Nominated |
| 2003 | New York International Independent Film Festival | Best Actor | The Theory of the Leisure Class | Won |
| 2004 | Sedona International Film Festival | Director's Choice Award for Most Spirited Rising Performer | — | Won |
| 2004 | Breckenridge Festival of Film | Best Ensemble Cast | Mummy an' the Armadillo | Won |
| 2008 | Action On Film International Film Festival | Best Actor | Collector | Won |