Article 5

(from Flaunt Magazine September 2001)

BRAD TO THE BONE

written by: Jessica Hundley

    In the crowded lobby of an LA. hotel, Brad Renfro has been mistaken for an aspiring actor. Auditions for a new WB teen series are being held in the ballroom and a well dressed, too-thin assistant has come over to direct Renfro to the sign-in table. Renfro declines. He's not interested in becoming a television star.

    What the assistant doesn't realize is that Renfro doesn't need the WB. At the ripe old age of 18, he already has nearly 20 films under his belt, eight of them to be released this year alone. It is merely a testament to Renfro's chameleonic transformations (his look can range from delicate and fine boned to square jawed and muscular to soft and slightly round) that the folk from the WB have not recognized him. But they have recognized something, the very same thing which has fueled his fairytale transformation from small-town Southern boy to burgeoning movie idol: potential.

    Brad Renfro is one of those lucky few who stumble into acting through unlikely circumstances, managing somehow to arrive at success without straining too hard to find it. Growing up with his father and grandmother in a "happy, lower-middle-class home" in Knoxville, Tennessee, the ten-year-old Renfro took the stage for the first time  in a one-act play designed to illustrate to kids the dangers of drugs use. The D.A.R.E.  officer who organized the play saw the raw talent in Renfro and encouraged him to audition for a Hollywood agent who just happened to be in Knoxville casting for Joel Schumacher's The Client.

    "Luck, literally got me in the door," explains Renfro. "I went down-town to the Radisson, read my lines and from there on in it was completely surreal."

    On the strength of his audition, Renfro was flown out to Los Angeles to read for Schumacher himself. Despite the fact that he had never been to L.A., never been to a studio, never auditioned for a high-powered director, in fact, never really acted at all, Renfro stood his ground and got the part. Suddenly the boy from Tennessee found himself starring in a major motion picture. His subsequent performance landed him critical accolades and the attention of numerous directors. Very quickly Renfro had acquired a host of high-profile parts, in Sleepers, in Brian Singer's Apt Pupil, in this summer's controversial Bully, and the recently wrapped Deuces Wild.

    " I try to choose scripts that I can make believable," says Renfro of his highly-varied roles. "something I can believe myself. I try to put myself in the character's shoes. It doesn't necessarily mean they have to be me exactly, it's just that I have to be able to understand why they do what they do. That's important, because if I can't believe it, you won't. That's pretty much my motto as an actor."

    In addition to his continuously evolving film career, Renfro has been eager to explore other creative outlets. He's directed two shorts since his sixteenth birthday, the first on 16mm, and the second on digital video. He also takes photographs and has, since early age, maintained an intense love affair with the guitar.

    "Music was always what I thought I would do until this acting thing came along out of nowhere," says Renfro, a bit wistfully, "and I still want to do it. I'm just waiting until I can get to the point where I am just so disgustingly good that there is just no fucking connection, I start playing and I'm gone. I want to be taken seriously as a musician, so I'm waiting until there's no doubt of that happening."

    Despite this imminent commitment, Renfro's dedication to music does not negate his dedication to acting (or filmmaking or photography). In fact, each of his passions seems only to simply fuel the others. "I feel that everyone has something to say and there are so many ways to express it. Would I rather make a great album than a shitty film? Of course. Or vise versa? Of course. "Renfro shakes his head, overwhelmed by the possibilities. "As far as acting goes, I don't care about being a movie star. I could give a shit. I just want to be respected. I want to make films that matter. I think for my generation of film-goers, kids my age, there's really some shit out there. Hollywood is all about money. They don't want to educate, they want to take your paycheck. And kids are getting fucking bored of the same old crap. What I hope I can do is give them more, something not so mindless. I hope to try to stop insulting them."

    This sort of unapologetic outcry against Hollywood condescension is indicative of Renfro's healthy disdain for authority, a facet of his personality which has already gotten him into hot water. At age 16 he was arrested by Knoxville police for marijuana possession ("Ironic isn't it? considering my D.A.R.E. officer got me this gig!") and just last summer, while filming Bully, Renfro was caught stealing a yacht from Miami marina.

    "Here's some wisdom," he says, laughing, "don't steal boats, because it's not funny. It was intended to be a joke, you know, just kidding, but unfortunately no one was laughing."

    Since then, Renfro has been trying to rectify his bad-boy ways. "Now that I'm a little older, I'm finding that it's not only more appropriate, but actually a little easier to stay out of trouble."

Despite his tainted record, Renfro's impulsiveness and intensity have paid off onscreen. Regardless of the disparity in his choice of films, all of his roles seem to share something, a certain undercurrent of rebellion. Renfro seems to specialize in brooding but sensitive types, and he does "defiant" like no one else. Even when his characters duck their heads and lower their eyes, there is still the sense of some storm below the surface. It is  the same spark of revolt mixed with vulnerability which lit up legends like James Dean or Marlon Brando. Whether or not Renfro's career will ignite into the kind of fire that fueled his predecessors remains to be seen, but the young actor is undoubtedly on his way. He may not care about fame, but it has come to him just the same.

    " I'm not just some punk-ass kid," he says, suddenly quiet. "I know there are a million people waiting to fill my slot. Right now I'm just trying to be good at what I do and not screw anything up."   

Contributed by: Melysah