REEL FACE: | REAL FACE: |
Michael Keaton
Born: September 5, 1951 Birthplace: Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, USA | Walter "Robby" Robinson
Born: January 13, 1946 Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, USA Position: Reporter, Editor, Spotlight Team Leader |
Mark Ruffalo
Born: November 22, 1967 Birthplace: Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA | Michael Rezendes
Birthplace: Bangor, Maine, USA Position: Reporter |
Rachel McAdams
Born: November 17, 1978 Birthplace: London, Ontario, Canada | Sacha Pfeiffer
Born: September 7, 1971 Birthplace: Columbus, Ohio, USA Position: Reporter |
Liev Schreiber
Born: October 4, 1967 Birthplace: San Francisco, California, USA | Martin "Marty" Baron
Born: February 24, 1954 Birthplace: Tampa, Florida, USA Position: Editor-in-Chief |
Brian d'Arcy James
Born: July 1, 1968 Birthplace: Saginaw, Michigan, USA | Matt Carroll
Position: Reporter |
John Slattery
Born: August 13, 1962 Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, USA | Ben Bradlee Jr.
Born: August 7, 1948 Birthplace: Manchester, New Hampshire, USA Position: Assistant Managing Editor |
Gene Amoroso
| Stephen Kurkjian
Born: August 28, 1943 Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, USA Position: Reporter |
Stanley Tucci
Born: November 11, 1960 Birthplace: Peekskill, New York, USA | Mitchell Garabedian
Born: July 17, 1951 Birthplace: Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA |
Billy Crudup
Born: July 8, 1968 Birthplace: Manhasset, New York, USA | Eric MacLeish
Born: October 31, 1952 Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
Len Cariou
Born: September 30, 1939 Birthplace: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | Cardinal Bernard Law
Born: November 4, 1931 Birthplace: Torreón, Mexico |
Neal Huff
Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA | Phil Saviano
Born: November 28, 1961 Birthplace: E Boston, Massachusetts, USA Victim |
The priest did admit it, but unlike the movie, he was interviewed by Globe reporter Steve Kurkjian, not Sacha Pfeiffer. Rev. Ronald H. Paquin told Kurkjian (portrayed by Gene Amoroso) that he had molested boys until 1989, the year before the Archdiocese of Boston removed him from his position. His crimes spanned 15 years across two different parishes. "Sure, I fooled around. But I never raped anyone and I never felt gratified myself," Paquin told Kurkjian. Like in the film, Paquin said he himself was raped by a Catholic priest when he was a teenager. The actual interview took place in the living room of Paquin's apartment, not at the front door. Though Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams in the movie) didn't conduct the interview in real life, she did write the story based on Kurkjian's interview notes.
Yes, according to the real Walter Robinson, the Catholic Church had great political power in Boston and always put pressure on institutions like The Boston Globe. "You had to be very, very careful because of its power, and in this case it meant for us getting documents." -NPR
No. In researching the Spotlight true story, we discovered that as of 2002, the incidence of pedophilia in the Catholic Church was around 6%, which is in line with the general population (this percentage is also stated in the movie). This means that despite what some have come to believe, there is no disproportionate separation between priests and civilians when it comes to this terrible crime. The efforts by some members of the church to cover up the abuse is what makes it perhaps significantly more tragic. -The O'Reilly Factor Phil Saviano Interview
Yes. The screenwriters realized that having at least one of the reporters be more in touch with his or her faith could enhance the drama, but the reality was that none of them were in touch with their faith. The real Spotlight team members were all lapsed Catholics (Wall Street Journal). After conducting their research for the 2001 Globe story, some of the reporters found it impossible to return to their religion. "I was a lapsed Catholic at the time, and I'm super lapsed now," says the real Walter Robinson.
"Even though I was a lapsed Catholic, I still considered myself a Catholic and thought that possibly, some day, I would go back to being a practicing Catholic," says the real-life Michael Rezendes (portrayed by Mark Ruffalo in the movie). But after this experience, I found it impossible to do that - or even think about doing that," he said. "What we discovered was just too shattering." -People.com
The real Spotlight team interviewed 30 or 40 victims during their research, which often took an emotional toll on the reporters, as emphasized in the movie. Once the story reached the masses in early 2002, more victims came forward, no longer believing they were alone in what had happened. "We received calls just in the Boston archdiocese from over 300 victims in just a month or two," says Walter Robinson. He notes that these victims were all adults who had suffered the abuse years earlier. Most had been too afraid to come forward. -NPR
Though he is pleased with the meaningful steps that the church has taken, former Globe editor Marty Baron (portrayed by Liev Schreiber in the movie) says that it took the church too long "to name a tribunal to hold the bishops accountable for having participated in the cover-up - where they knew that priests who were in their diocese were abusing kids, and yet they were reassigned from parish to parish."
"It's been 14 years. One would have thought this would have been addressed before now," Baron said of the church's announcement in the summer of 2015 that it was going to name a tribunal. "Clearly this is an issue that endures, and one that the church is still grappling with." -People.com
Yes. The real Spotlight team members won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for their series of reports on the Catholic Church child abuse scandal and its systemic cover-up. -BostonGlobe.com
Yes. "We would interview each of them about the same moments, to triangulate what happened, 10 or 11 years after the investigation," said director and co-screenwriter Tom McCarthy. "Put it sometimes in their words, or our words, or a combination. ... These reporters and editors read almost every draft we threw at them." -Wall Street Journal
"I was definitely nervous when this idea of a movie first got floated," says the real Sacha Pfeiffer (pictured below). "[The script] followed what really happened. There is very little license in terms of changing things that happened along the way. So, I think they ultimately created a really real-life, authentic, true-to-history story, and I feel grateful for that."
Further explore the Spotlight movie true story by watching an interview with several key members of the Spotlight team that broke open the Catholic Church child abuse scandal. Then watch an interview with abuse victim Phil Saviano.