Jeremy Lee Renner (born January 7, 1971 in Modesto, California) is an American actor.
He first became interested in acting through an exercise at a local police academy, which gave him the opportunity to role-play a domestic disturbance perpetrator as part of a police-training exercise for an easy $50. He became best known for his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Clint "Hawkeye" Barton. He also starred in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation as William Brandt, as Aaron Cross in The Bourne Legacy and as Sergeant First Class William James in The Hurt Locker.
In addition to his work as an actor, Renner continues to cultivate a lifelong love of music. A singer, songwriter, and musician, he performed with the band Sons of Ben early in his career. Scenes in Love Comes to the Executioner, North Country, and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford briefly showcase Renner's singing talents. He currently maintains a YouTube channel
which also hosts a number of recent musical tracks.
On New Year's Day 2023, Renner was severely injured in an accident while plowing snow outside his home in Nevada and underwent surgery to treat blunt chest trauma and other extensive injuries. The first interview he gave after the accident can be watched here.
His notable roles include:
- Angel (TV series, episode "Somnambulist", 2000): Penn "The Pope"
- Dahmer (2002): Jeffrey Dahmer
- S.W.A.T. (2003): Brian Gamble
- North Country: (2005): Bobby Sharp
- Love Comes to the Executioner (2006): Chick Prigusivac
- 28 Weeks Later: (2007): Doyle
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007): Wood Hite
- The Hurt Locker (2009): Sergeant First Class William James — Academy Award nomination for Best Actor
- The Unusuals (2009): Detective Jason Walsh
- The Town (2010): James "Jem" Coughlin — Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor
- Mission: Impossible Film Series films (2011 — 2015) as William Brandt:
- Marvel Cinematic Universe (2011 — present) as Clint Barton / Hawkeye:
- Thor (2011) note
- The Avengers (2012)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- What If...? (2021)
- Hawkeye (2021)
- The Bourne Legacy (2012): Aaron Cross
- Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013): Hansel
- The Immigrant (2013): Orlando the Magician/Emil.
- American Hustle (2013): Mayor Carmine Polito
- Kill the Messenger (2014): Gary Webb
- Arrival (2016): Ian Donnelly
- Wind River (2017)
- Tag (2018)
- Arctic Dogs (2019) as Swifty (voice)
- Mayor of Kingstown (2020) as Mike McLusky
Music:
- "Heaven Don't Have a Name" (collaboration with Sam Feldt and solo recording)
- "House of the Rising Sun" (cover)
- "Nomad"
- "Main Attraction"
- The Medicine (EP, 2020)
- Live For Now (EP, 2020)
Tropes & Trivia in his works include:
- Advertised Extra: Admitted that while he was happy to have done The Avengers, he felt that Hawkeye was snubbed in screentime. Joss Whedon seemed to noticed this, as Hawkeye had a much larger and more important role in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
- The Cameo: Appeared in Thor as Hawkeye, but was neither named nor credited.
- The Cast Showoff: Similarly to his fellow Marvel costar Robert Downey Jr., Renner is also musically talented. He once parodied Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" as Hawkeye.
- Older Than They Look: Not as much as some in Hollywood but it's still hard to believe the man is his fifties, especially since almost all of his roles involve characters that are almost a decade (or more) younger than his actual age. This is accentuated in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, where he plays a character that is, at the most, in his late twenties.
