The movie “Spotlight” has only been in a limited number of theaters for a week. But it’s already being hailed by many Oscar watchers as one of the year’s best pictures.
The film is based on the true story of the Boston Globe reporters who investigated how the Catholic Church in that city covered up the behavior of pedophile priests. And it’s the rare example of a movie that gets old-fashioned, shoe-leather journalism exactly right. Perhaps that’s due to the involvement of the actual reporters who are depicted in the film.
Mike Rezendes is one of those Globe reporters who won a Pulitzer Prize for the story. In the movie, he’s portrayed by Mark Ruffalo. Rezendes spoke with Frame contributor Collin Friesen about becoming a subject of a major motion picture.
Excerpts from Rezendes on what it was like to have Ruffalo study him for the film:
I had no idea it would be so intense. Ruffalo [called] and said, Let’s hang out. He showed up at my apartment on a Sunday afternoon and he came into living room and sat down and immediately turned the tables on me, so to speak, because he was the reporter and, just as I would in his situation, he pulled out a notebook, pulled out his pen and started asking me questions and taking copious notes.
And he also took out his iPhone to take pictures of my living room, my coffee table. Call it an interview because that’s what it was. So as soon as he turned on his iPhone to record the interview I thought, Well, I deserve this, because I’ve done it so many time so to so many people. Normally, I’m the one who’s putting people on the hot seat and recording them. And this time there was someone sitting across from me who was not really putting me on the hot seat, but grilling me pretty good about all manner of things, and recording the interview. So I thought there was some justice in that.
We chatted for several hours and finally we got hungry and walked up the street to an Italian restaurant a couple of blocks from my house, and everyone recognized him and wanted to talk to him and wanted to take a selfie with him. And we walked around my neighborhood for a few more hours until fairly late into the evening, until he finally packed up and went to his hotel.
They filmed the first scene in Fenway Park during a game, and I’m watching them film this with one of my colleagues, Sacha Pfeiffer. And as we’re watching them film the fifth or sixth take, she grabs my arm and says, “Oh my God, he’s got your laugh!” It wasn’t a laugh but more of an odd chuckle that he used when he began a sentence, and I wasn’t even aware that I did that in conversation. So here’s a guy portraying me in a way that was showing me things about myself I didn’t even realize were true. It really was like being on a cannonball back in time.
I have no idea how it’ll change my life or if it’ll change my life. Winning a Pulitzer Prize didn’t change my life at all. And, by the way, I’m still [reporting].