I hope what’s not lost in the speculation over Brad Renfro’s untimely death at 25 — especially given the likelihood that he’ll become just another cautionary tale of a child star who destroyed himself with drugs as he entered adulthood — is an acknowledgment that he was a really good actor with a solid body of work. Aside from his self-assured debut in 1994’s The Client and his first mature teen performance in Apt Pupil (1998), very few of those roles were for studio pictures; most were more challenging indie fare, like Telling Lies in America and Ghost World. In retrospect, it’s easy to draw a link between the troubled youths and delinquents he often played (Tom and Huck, Sleepers, Apt Pupil, Bully) and his own life, but his performances in these films indicated a young actor who, maybe only on-screen, displayed a wisdom, sensitivity, and maturity beyond his years. He recently wrapped filming on The Informers, a drama in which he acts alongside Winona Ryder, Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, and Mickey Rourke, and I’m sure we’ll see him hold his own alongside such established pros, just as he did opposite Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Bacon, and Ian McKellen.
I met Renfro when he was 11 years old and promoting The Client. He seemed to me then to be an unusually bright and self-possessed kid. He seemed fully aware of the opportunity that had been handed to him (by the casting agents who discovered him in Knoxville, Tenn.) and the career path it could lead to, but insisted that he was going to remain level-headed and himself, that folks at home would keep him humble and honest. Alas, that boast, made with youthful bravado, did not come to pass, but I didn’t see any reason at the time to doubt that he would go on to have a long and productive future in movies. I’m reluctant to draw any pat lessons here, except to say that we never really know the stars we think we know, and to regret the terrible waste of a life, as well as a career full of past accomplishment and future promise.
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It’s ALWAYS a shame to lose anyone who is so young (he was actually the same age I am).
Still, this is particularly sad to me because, although he certainly had his share of onscreen trouble, Renfro’s talent was very apparent whenever I watched him work. It’s too bad he couldn’t pull himself together and he’ll be missed.
The news stopped me in my tracks. Haven’t felt sad like this since River. RIP
The Client was his best work. I weep for his family. I hate to say that like River before him, he made a grave decision. He took his acting ability, tossed it out the window, and CHOSE a path of self destruction. Perhaps Britney will get the message now. RIP Brad.
I’ll always remember Renfro as the little boy walking down the street with one shoe on from THE CURE. God that movie makes me bawl.
Sad…. he’s had problems for awhile though, since his early teens. Anyway, Bully is one of my favorite all time movies. I also remember having a crush on him in the Client back when I was 12.
He was a rarity in his generation. He had such a depth as an actor that you couldn’t help but be pulled in whenever he appeared on screen. He’ll definitely be remembered as my generation’s River Phoenix: a brilliant young actor that died before he could show the world what he was truly capable of.
RIP Brad.
Thanks for the nice words about Brad. What a talent, what a waste. We will miss you.
Great right up. So sad. It is such a waste of talent and youth. This is a first for me, one of my childhood crushes dying of an overdose (most likely cause of death). Very, very sad.
Oooopppppssss! That should be write up….Seriously, “to read makes our speaking English good.”
One of the first stories I read about Brad was in Premiere magazine. He was filming Tom and Huck and, in one incident, had chased his tutor around the set with a saw. He was also already experimenting with drugs. I remember hoping that someone would try to intervene on his behalf because he seemed like a tragedy waiting to happen. I’m sad but I’m not surprised.
Shame.
I have seen a couple of Brad Renfro’s films ["The Client" in the theater, "The Cure" on video] thankfully I missed “Tom & Huck”…his life should be a cautionary tale. However, we still have Lindsay Lohan & Britney Spears to go…
Very sad story. Seems like everyone around him failed him as I am sure he failed himself. What’s even worse is that this will NOT be a wake-up call for the others heading down this same path.
R.I.P Brad Renfro
RIP Brad. I remember thinking what a great career he had ahead of him when I saw him in Apt Pupil. It’s too bad his life had to take this sad turn.
I’ve always admired Brad’s work. Sure he had some substance problems but he seemed like a great kid otherwise and was an awesome actor. This truly sucks. My prayers go out to his family and may he rest in peace. Lova ya Brad.
I’ve always followed his career since we are close in age. The Client was one my favorite movies, The Cure made me cry, and Apt. Pupil made me realize he was the real deal and had a lot of promise. I had always wished he would get more recognition for his work. I’m very sad about his death.
Even though i’m older, i saw Brad in The Client at a particularly difficult time in my life and he touched my soul. I have followed his career since. I think i cried for 3 hours after The Cure. Even in Tom and Huck, his talent and raw vulnerability shone through. Every week i look in the “deaths” section at the back of EW, hoping not to see Brad’s name. This was still such a shock. I still believed he would stay sober and become the star i know he could have been. RIP Brad. with love and thanks.
It’s so weird to me that this kind of thing happens to a lot of kids who become stars…Cory Haim, Edward Furlong, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears… And then there are others who seem to grow up just fine, or at least fine enough to survive or thrive. What makes the difference?
I fell in love with Brad Renfro when I saw The Client at age 11. I knew he had had problems with drugs, but I hoped he would get on the road to recovery and realize his full potential as an actor. Now that will never happen. Rest in peace, Brad.
Usually I affect being inured to stuff like this, and truly, the first public thing I said after hearing about Renfro’s death was “And how does Mr. Singer feel about this today?” But dammit Susman you made me bawl. I hate it, I hate it, when people don’t end up the way they should, but they way they do. It’s foolish, because intentions almost never work out, and everybody knew Brad had his demons, but it still upsets the hell out of me now. Oh, and thanks a lot Tim G for reminding us he was in “The Cure”, now I’m weeping. You know, I try to be cool about drugs, it’s a personal choice, etc., but I have very little patience with how it changes people I love or admire. And death is a very major change. Excuse me while I go have violent revenge fantasies.
oh, and try and stand Jonathan Taylor Thomas, because Brad played Huck Finn like he was born to it. which he probably was.
Has anyone seen “Teenage Sensation”? He stars opposite Bijou Phillips and Mischa Barton. Kinda like a darker Gossip Girl. He played a ticking-bomb ruffian, a role that comes so naturally to him, obviously. It’s not even on imdb’s list of movies he’s made. He was beautiful, he was talented, and I hate to admit it, that now he’s just another case of angels losing it in Hollywood. If only. *sigh* Your troubles are over now, Brad. Peace, brother.
Oh what a waste. This morning, my dad said do you know an actor named Brad renfro and I said sure, I like him, why and then he said he died and I was shocked. Not sure why, I knew he had had problems, serious ones with drugs for a long time, but I always hoped so very hard he would get himself together and get through it. I thought he had the last few months, that he had saved himself, but sadly that was not to be. This upsets me, he was so talented, so handsome, so young, that makes me sad!
Nabody “chooses a path of self-destruction”!Addiction is a disease of the brain. It is an epidemic among this young mans peers and addicts are dropping like flies due to greedy drug dealers and the poisen they add to the dope to make thier evil profits. This country needs to wake up and deal with the facts that the 12 Steps is not a cure all and much more research is needed for treatment of this disease. I know my only son is dead at 22 years old who was just as bright, handsome and promising as this young man from the same fate and nobody in the justice system cared to even prosecute the killer who sold him the death weapon. Just another junkie out of the way….
I have seen every movie Brad ever did because he was a truly fascinating talent. He was beautiful and brooding….he had a sweetness and dark mischief that made him unique. One of his co-stars from Bully (who is a personal friend) once told me his wrecklessnes was the most scary and seductive thing about him. Goodnight James Dean, River Phoenix, and now our most recent young Dionysus, Brad.
I’m still shocked, even though I didn’t know him, I still became very sad and depressed by the news, R.I.P Brad
I’m still shocked, even though I didn’t know him personally but I remember his movies , I still became very sad and depressed by the news, R.I.P Brad
Does anyone know when the results of the autopsy will be let out? I’m hoping against hope that it wasn’t drugs.
I am still in shock. I am just a few months older than Brad, and I followed his career closely. I remember in Junior High that while other girls had crushes on really big named actors, my crush was on him. He was an excellent actor, and I will truly miss him. God bless his family who are suffering right now.