The Brad Renfro Zone
UPDATE (12/25/04): Here's a brief roundup of Brad Renfro news that should tide you over for the new year. Brad's second film, The Cure, finally came to DVD in November. While it was priced under $10, it came without bonus features and only in fullscreen. Certainly not worth the seven-and-a-half-year wait. Maybe Universal will get it right on the next home video format.
American Girl, the independent film that Brad made over two years ago, is finally going to be seen. No, not in theaters, another Brad project is going direct-to-video. It makes its debut exclusively on DVD now titled Confessions of an American Girl on January 11, 2005. This R-rated drama co-stars Jena Malone (Donnie Darko), Erik von Detten (TV's "Complete Savages"). You can pre-order the DVD here.
The Jacket, a film which will garner more attention, marks Brad's highest profile feature film appearance since 2001. Produced by Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney, this suspenseful drama tells the story of an institutionalized Gulf War veteran (Oscar winner Adrien Brody) who is convinced he's travelling through time to be with his lover (played by Keira Knightley, Pirates of the Caribbean). Brad plays the supporting role of "The Stranger" and this Warner Brothers-distributed film opens on March 4 against The Pacifier.
UPDATE (8/31/03): While summer comes to an end, there is the unexplained update...making two in one month. Word is Brad has started production on "Hollywood Flies", a crime drama/black comedy co-starring Vinnie Jones (Snatch), and Caprice Bourett (pictured below) for the Canadian film company Peace Arch Entertainment.
UPDATE (8/11/03): I suppose here is the bi-yearly update. Latest word is that Brad isn't making Riders on the Storm. Instead, his band, Frodad, is apparently playing around, in Los Angeles and the like. However, a new movie starring Brad called The Theory of the Leisure Class was released to DVD in April. The film, based on a 'true story', is about a group of kids on a field trip who discover the bodies of missing children. The film co-stars Christopher McDonald (Shooter McGavin from "Happy Gilmore") and Tuesday Knight. Brad won the New York International Independent Film Festival Best Actor award for his work in the film. You can buy it from Amazon here.
Brad Renfro's Complete Up-to-Date Filmography
NOW AVAILABLE TO OWN ON DVD
UPDATE (2/9/03): Well, not only is Brad involved in a new project, but this one actually sounds somewhat interesting and may earn him some lead exposure. The project is called Riders on the Storm, and if that reminds you of The Doors' song, it should. The film is being directed by Ray Manzarek, the Doors' keyboard player. It is based on a screenplay co-written by Manzarek and Chris Kobin, which is apparently inspired by a real-life adventure involving Manzarek and legendary Doors rocker Jim Morrison in the 1960s.
The story follows three UCLA film students (presumably Brad and co-star Edward Furlong will play two of these) on a road trip seeking "knowledge, power, and peyote." The students run into a turf war between white supremacists and a band of Native American shaman. Sounds...interesting. Peter Stormare (Brad's Happy Campers co-star) also has a lead role. Riders on the Storm will begin production this summer, shooting for a December release.
In other news, Brad's 1995 family adventure Tom and Huck is finally coming to DVD, and it is now up for pre-order at Amazon.com, for under $15. This leaves The Cure as Brad's only theatrical film still missing on DVD. Tom and Huck streets May 6, 2003. I've updated the complete filmography page.
UPDATE (1/17/03): Happy New Year! Vote in the new poll, above! Latest news is that Brad is at work on The Job, the dark independent film with Daryl Hannah.
UPDATE (11/7/02): Well, with nearly 100,000 visits to this site and quite possibly one of the lowest Clicks-to-Purchases ratio in the history of the Internet, it's the Brad Renfro Zone, a site I figured it was time to update. Today's significant news item is that Brad's third film, Tom and Huck will finally be coming to DVD on May 6, 2003. That leaves only The Cure (which just happens to be one of Brad's most beloved films) missing on DVD, well after May, that is. Brad's latest piece Lifers' Picnic(or whatever they've decided to call it) will be opening sometime next year, probably. Let's hope it does better than Deuces Wild, for Bradley's sake.
Speaking of Brad, he's been out of the clink for a few months now (Broward County Jail in Florida), and he was supposed to star in a slasher showdown film called Freddy vs. Jason, but he dropped out and has been replaced with some kid who was in Swimfan and whose father is John Ritter. Latest word has it that Brad will be playing a lead role as a drug-dealer husband in an indie film called The Job, co-starring fellow has-been's Daryl Hannah and William Forsythe. It's an indie, so you'll probably never see it, anyway.
UPDATE (3/14/02): Brad has three movies making their debut this spring, and all three have been delayed several times in the past. On April 23, Brad's film Tart co-starring Dominique Swain goes direct-to-video and DVD. Then the next week, on Friday, May 3rd, Brad will hit the big screens in Deuces Wild as part of a strong ensemble cast including Matt Dillon and Stephen Dorff. Then on May 7, Brad's summer camp comedy Happy Campers (also co-starring Dominique Swain) debuts on DVD and video. You can purchase his upcoming DVDs at the updated, complete, and accurate listing of all of Brad's films. Also, be sure to check out two of the year 2001's most highly-acclaimed films, which made Several critics' Top 10 of the year list, Ghost World and Bully. Both are now available on DVD, include interview footage with Brad Renfro, and can be purchased through the links below.
Bully (January 22, 2002) is the Unrated cut, which will be hard to find in stores that don't stock unrated films and Ghost World (February 5, 2002) is a packed DVD with deleted scenes, audio commentary, music video, and more. The Bully DVD has interviews with Brad and his fellow castmates. Both are definitely worth picking up for the Brad fans in 2002. Happy new year!
8/23/01: I have completely updated the page of Brad's film credits. I also updated the Favorite Brad Renfro Movie Poll. I had to create a new one altogether, but I took the results from the original and put them in place here. Now, you won't have that annoying Angelfire logo all over. Plus I added some of Brad's new movies to the poll, so you can choose them if they're your favorites. It's the first bunch of quite a few changes I would like to make to this site over the next few days. If you'd really like to support this site, PLEASE do a free trial of Netflix (the banner on top of the page). You get free DVD rentals for a month (you can rent Brad's latest - Skipped Parts) and it will greatly help me out with the costs of this site. Check it out!
QUOTE OF 2001 - "You couldn't pay me enough money to do a film like Dude, Where's My Car? You know, I just want respect as an actor, and you don't get that doing Free Willy 4." - Brad Renfro (July 2001)
Vote for your favorite Brad Renfro movie! SIGN THE GUESTBOOK
About The Brad Renfro Zone/Web Site News Click on the
movie poster to see more info on one of Brad's films...
Don't look so glum, Brad!
The Brad Renfro Zone MESSAGE BOARD Message board is down. Want me to start another one? Let me know. (Was "Discuss Brad's movies, ask questions, get answers, find information, and more.")
Subscribe to the Brad Renfro Mailing List, an email group that discusses Brad and his films.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
THE CLIENT |
 |
|
|
TELLING LIES |
|
OTHER
Resident Evil 2 Commercial | biography
 |
Who is Brad Renfro? Brad Barron Renfro was born July,25, 1982 in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1994, Renfro became famous when he made his movie debut in the blockbuster film "The Client." In the film, which also starred Academy Award winners Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones, Brad played the role of eleven-year old Mark Sway. "The Client" was a major success bringing John Grisham's novel to life on the big screen. And Renfro made a name for himself by turning in an unbelievable performance. |
| Brad's second movie was The Cure. It was a moving drama. In The Cure, Brad played Erik, an 11-year old boy who befriends a boy who has AIDS. The film, released on April 21, 1995, was directed by Peter Horton and also starred Joseph Mazzello, Diana Scarwid, Bruce Davison, and Anabella Sciorra. Brad won the 1995 Hollywood Reporter Young Star Award for his performance in this movie. |  |
 |
In 1998, Brad's drama/thriller Apt Pupil was released to theaters on October 23. The film is now available on video and DVD - check out the Apt Pupil page! In this highly-anticipated thriller, directed by Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects), Brad stars as Todd Bowden, a high school student who uncovers the deadly truth about an old man in his town (Lord of the Rings star Ian McKellen). Despite high expectations, the movie met with mixed reviews and poor box office performance. |
| Following Apt Pupil, 1999 was a year filled with movie rumors for Brad. First there was Under the Mimosa with Leanne Rimes, which certainly seemed legit. Production began on Skipped Parts, Tart, and Happy Campers. However, none of these three films would make it to theaters, and they would all take several years to finally end up on video and DVD store shelves. Also in 1999, Brad was rumored (along with every other young male actor) to be in consideration for the role of the young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II. Of course, Brad didn't get the part, nor did Leonardo or Elijah, as an actor unknown to anyone who didn't watch Fox Family, Hayden Christensen, was cast in the role for Episodes II and III. |  |
 | Since the projects Brad chose were delayed again and again, he didn't appear on the big screen at all in 1999 or 2000. However, in 2000, he did appear in a small festival film called 2 Little, 2 Late (which nobody seems to know much about), and oddly enough, then lended his voice to a character in the Internet's first animated feature, Herschel Hopper: New York Rabbit for the now-defunct Rumpus.com. (If anyone really wants to see this, they can e-mail me, or I can maybe put it up for download.)
But, then in 2001, Brad rebounded with two films that gained a lot of critical attention. Bully, based on a true story of misguided Florida teens ganging up to murder, featured Brad in a lead role. The graphic film, directed by the pedophiliac Larry Clark, split critics; Roger Ebert praised it with four stars, while others passed it off as offensive trash made by a director with disturbing agendas. Critics were less split on Ghost World, an offbeat comedy/drama, directed by Terry Zwigoff. Brad's supporting role in the film took backstage to the Oscar-nominated screenplay and critically lauded performances of stars Steve Buscemi and Thora Birch. (You can buy Ghost World on DVD for just $16.99 at Amazon.com!) |
And it's at THIS point of Brad's career where it looks like the downward spiral of drugs, attempted boat heists, and more drugs finally catches up to him. Like so many other talented young actors, Brad has lived a fast life, and had a number of run-in's with the law. And now, he has just one upcoming film that we know of, the independent project Lifers' Picnic. He was hired to star in New Line's Jason vs. Freddy slasher flick, but quit when he didn't like how it was going. Unfortunately, it looks like the talented peformances we saw in The Client and The Cure are not amounting to much, seven years later. Maybe if he had watched "Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue" when he was growing up, he wouldn't have had such talent go wasted.
Brad Renfro's Complete Filmography
Brad Renfro Zone's Awards and Listings
Sign the BR Guestbook!
E-mail me with comments, suggestions, ideas, questions, etc.
This page was last updated on 12/25/04
