Olympian Mark Schultz Blasts Biographical Details In ‘Foxcatcher’

Foxcatcher has been earning critical praise since its premiere at the Cannes International Film Festival back in May 2014, particularly for Steve Carrell‘s quietly sinister portrayal of convicted murderer John Eleuthère du Pont, who established an Olympic wrestling team at his family estate Foxcatcher Farm. The legacy of his philanthropy and athletic interests were forever tarnished when he shot and killed wrestling coach Dave Schultz (portrayed in the film by Mark Ruffalo) in January 1996. Dave Schultz’s brother, Mark, plays a central part in the film and is portrayed by Channing Tatum. In the last month, the real-life Mark Schultz has attacked the film’s director and screenwriters for what he calls an inaccurate depiction of his life, which came to a head this week.

Earlier this week, Schultz went on the attack on Twitter, blasting director Bennett Miller and screenwriters E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman for misrepresenting him, his brother, and their relationship to the wealthy du Pont. By yesterday, however, Schultz had deleted the string of rants from his Twitter account, offering up an apology and an explanation for his anger:

In a post on his Facebook page (linked in the tweet above), Schultz expands on his response to the film:

My story and my life are real. I am a real human being. While I may have tweeted out of anger, I in no way regret standing up for myself, nor do I regret calling out the only other man who has had decision making power concerning my image and legacy these past years. I apologize for the harshness of my language, but I am firm in where I stand. I will gladly go to any lengths to protect and safeguard the integrity and truth of my story, my life, my character and my legacy. If that’s not worth fighting over while I’m still alive, I don’t know what is.

It’s not rare for the real-life subject of a film to call out specific details that were modified for narrative devices, but even Schultz seems to recognize that the film takes liberties with his family’s connection to the du Pont heir. Despite ranting against the filmmakers who used his story to create their fictionalized version of what went down at Foxcatcher Farm (and even sharing New York magazine’s David Edelstein’s negative review of the film, in which the critic lamented its historical inaccuracies), Schultz still goes to bat for the film’s stars, particularly Tatum, and suggests they should win awards for crafting imaginary characters.

Of course, Schultz seems to adore the film’s actors much more than the film itself.

It should be noted, of course, that Mark Schultz’s version of the events is readily available in the form of his memoir, Foxcatcher: The True Story of My Brother’s Murder, John du Pont’s Madness, and the Quest for Olympic Gold, which he is also promoting online while disparaging the fictionalized film directed by Bennett Miller.

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