The Client - Blog Posts

bop magazine, brad: saved by the teacher

if you're a fan of the cure's brad renfro, you may want to break out the thank-you cards and send one to laura lawson. after all, laura, brad's former fifth-grade teacher from knoxville, tennessee, is partly responsible for getting the 12-year-old to hollywood.

it all began near the end of the 1992-93 school year, when a casting director came to knoxville to find a feisty, southern street-smart kid to play mark sway in the client.

the casting director contacted a knoxville police officer involved in the community drug-fighting program dare. brad, then 10, was active in the group and seemed to fit the casting director's needs; so the officer conferred with laura. she agreed that her student would be perfect for the part and encouraged the policeman to tell the casting director about him. soon after, hollywood was interested in brad.

unfortunately, though, few people were interested or able to help brad get to hollywood. brad's parents are divorced; his mother wasn't really in the picture, and though brad is on good terms with his dad, who is remarried, his father couldn't help out, either. meanwhile, brad's guardian/grandmother, jo anne renfro, couldn't leave her church-secretary job to accompany brad to los angeles for a screen test. that left laura.

although she was only his teacher, laura knew brad, liked him and agreed to be hired on by the film company as his guardian.

she accompanied him to the screen test and, after he landed the part, to memphis, tennessee and new orleans, louisiana, where the movie was filmed.

laura's main duty as guardian was to keep brad entertained during the four-month shoot. "we'd tie each other up in chairs and then we'd time each other to see how fast we could get out," laura told the knoxville news sentinel, their hometown newspaper, of one way the two managed to keep themselves amused between takes.

asked about brad's future, laura has said that her former pupil will probably be tied up in acting for a long time. "i really think," she's said, "that this is kind of what he's meant to do."

bop magazine, brad's serious side brad renfro hopes to go beyond the babeliness

“i always used to do poetry when i was really young, but i never took myself seriously,” brad renfro, now 13, admits. “i would do poems that were very demented.”

that’s changed. today, the talented teen from knoxville, tennessee takes himself and his creative projects very seriously indeed. and as evidenced in his 1994 film debut the client and last year’s the cure and tom and huck, brad also works very hard in hope that he’ll be judged for his talent as well as his good looks. it’s a trait you’ll find in all of his endeavors.

“i play in a band,” brad says, “but i don’t want to become like this teen idol where the only reason somebody would buy my record is because some girl who saw me in a movie was like, ‘oh my god, he’s so cute. i’m gonna buy this album.’”

though it’s been suggested to brad that those good looks might lend themselves to good album sales if he did put out a cd someday, that’s not what he wants. “you don’t understand,” he said, “i want you to take my music seriously as well as the rest of my art.”

the bottom line is that brad wants people to appreciate his serious side. so far, he's earned the respect of his professional peers. oscar-nominated actress susan sarandon, who co-starred with him in the client, has said of her young co-star: "he did a very professional job. he worked hard. and he came prepared. that's a lot more than i can say for some leading actors who are three times his age with three times as much experience."

“a tear ran down my cheek…”

brad's talent and work ethic have also earned him some serious comparisons to other peers. "i read in a magazine that someone compared myself to river," brad's said of the late river phoenix, another young actor who had his share of troubled teen roles. "a tear ran down my cheek that somebody would compare me to river phoenix. he's someone who's completely a genius."

like any up-and-coming actor, brad hopes this appreciation for his artistry will continue. and if critics' reviews are any indication, he's sure to be rewarded with respect. "i just wanna try to keep it that way," he replies.

yet as much as brad wants to be taken seriously, there still exists within him a silly side, as many classmates and co-stars can attest. brad's been known to emerge from his hotel room with underwear on his head for the sheer amusement of his co-workers.

but despite brad's light-hearted tendencies and

much-rumored roughness, it's respect that he craves as an actor-or a musician, or a poet. basically, brad says, "i like people to take me seriously for whatever the hell i am."