MASSACHUSETTS
East Boston Times-Free Press
By John Lynds
Michael Rezendes, who Mark Ruffalo plays in the Oscar Award winning drama about the Boston Globe’s investigative reports into the widespread Archdiocese clergy sexual abuse scandal during the early 2000s, shared a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the subject.
Spotlight, which won Best Picture Sunday night at the 88th Annual Academy Awards, has resuscitated the importance of investigative journalism in the U.S. and Rezendes has emerged as a national figure in that endeavor. Ruffalo got a Best Supporting Actor nod from the Academy for playing Rezendes.
However, some here might not know the award winning journalist got his start in Eastie first writing and later as editor of the former East Boston Community News. There is even one scene in Spotlight were Rezendes (Ruffalo) and Ben Bradlee Jr. (John Slattery) share a box of Santarpio Pizza–one of the real life Rezendes favorite haunts. Story is Rezendes brought Spotlight writers Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer to ‘Tarp’s and they loved it so much they snuck the pizza into the movie for a little more Boston authenticity.
Rezendes attended Sunday’s Academy Awards, was shown on television several times throughout the evening and even got a shout out from host Chris Rock.
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