January 17, 2008

So sad

My heart sank when I read that the actor Brad Renfro had died this week, aged 25. His girlfriend found him at his home in Los Angeles, and the cause of death has not yet been established.
Not so long ago, he was arrested buying heroin in Los Angeles' Skid Row. I talked about it with Larry Clark, who had directed Renfro in his cult movie "Bully". A recovering addict himself, Clark told me that Renfro (pictured here with "Bully" co-star Bijou Phillips) had come to him for advice after his arrest in December 2005, and that he had tried to counsel him as best he could. Clark was angry because the L.A. Times had published a large photo of Renfro being arrested in their coverage of the drug sting. He didn't think it was OK to specifically highlight Renfro and his addiction, just because he happened to be a celebrity.
My heart goes out to Renfro's family and fans, and to Larry Clark—this is the third of his young actors to have died in tragic circumstances. In 2000 Justin Pierce, who played Casper in his best known movie "Kids", was found hanging in a suite at the Bellagio in las Vegas, with two suicide notes next to him. Harold Hunter, who played Harold in "Kids" died in February 2006, in what was thought to be a drug-related death. Renfro had recently completed shooting "The Informers", also starring Winona Ryder and Billy Bob Thornton, in a story written by Bret Easton Ellis and Nicolas Jarecki.

January 17, 2008 in FAME | Permalink

Comments

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Posted by wow power leveling | Mar 5 2008 5:22PM

I was one of Brad Renfro's dialect coaches on his very first film, The Client. He was just the cutest kid ever and we spent several days together. I was acting in a play when we first met and he couldn't wait to come and see me in the show. He came to the play and had a marvelous time...this was the first play he had ever seen. After the show he came back to the dressing rooms and asked me for my autograph. I told him that he was crazy, that I would be the one asking him for his autograph one day soon. So we exchanged autographs that night. He said it was his first autograph. I still have it.

Posted by coco | Jan 18 2008 7:11AM

i can't believe it! when i first read that he died my mouth just fell open and i was like no, didn't happen this is a a sick joke. i first fell in love with brad when he was in tom and huck. i had the hugest crush on him. after that i watched all of his films. then I became a huge fan of dominique swain who went on to star in a few films with him... my heart was set. and when he did "apt pupil" i thought this is it, this guy is an amazing actor and teh film world can only benefit from having him in it. to my childhood crush, may you rest in peace

Posted by renfro lover | Jan 17 2008 9:28AM