Jeremy Lee Renner (born January 7, 1971)is an American actor, singer-songwriter, film producer, former makeup artist and musician, known for his starring roles in The Hurt Locker (2008), which garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), Marvel's The Avengers (2012), and The Bourne Legacy (2012). Throughout the 2000s, Renner appeared largely in independent films such as Dahmer (2002) and Neo Ned (2005). He also appeared in supporting roles in bigger films, S.W.A.T. (2003) and 28 Weeks Later (2007). He then turned out a much-praised performance in The Town (2010), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

 

Early life

Renner was born in Modesto, California, the first child of Valerie (née Tague) and Lee Renner, who managed a bowling alley.His parents married as teenagers and divorced when he was ten.He has five younger siblings.His ancestry includes German and Irish.He graduated from Fred C. Beyer High School and attended Modesto Junior College.

 

Career

Early work

Renner's film debut came in 1995 when he played an underachieving student in the cult favorite National Lampoon's Senior Trip. Although the film was critically panned, he went on to guest star on two television shows, Deadly Games and Strange Luck and had a minor role in the television movie, A Friend's Betrayal as the friend of Brian Austin Green's character. Over the next few years, Renner had guest roles in Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane (1999), The Net (1999), The Time of Your Life (1999) and Angel (2000).Renner also had a small role on an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 2001. In between acting roles, Renner worked as a makeup artist to make ends meet.

 

Early success: 2002–2008

In 2002, Renner had a starring role in the film Dahmer playing serial-killer Jeffrey Dahmer. He found the role a challenge to cope with after he had finished shooting after seeing how easily Dahmer took advantage of his victims.His performance was well received, and he gained a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Male. He also appeared in Pink's 2003 music video for her song "Trouble" as a Bad Boy Sheriff.Renner went on to appear in S.W.A.T. as the former police partner of Colin Farrell's character in 2003 and The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things in 2004.

 

In 2005, Renner starred with Julia Stiles and Forest Whitaker in A Little Trip to Heaven, North Country and 12 and Holding. He next starred as a neo-Nazi skinhead who is admitted into a psychiatric hospital in Neo Ned opposite Gabrielle Union. The film won all of the awards it was nominated for at festivals, including the Palm Beach International Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Renner also had a small (though uncredited) role in skateboard film Lords of Dogtown as the manager of Emile Hirsch's character. In 2006 he starred with Ginnifer Goodwin in Love Comes to the Executioner.

 

Renner had supporting roles in 2007 in the critically acclaimed The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as Wood Hite, the cousin of outlaw Jesse James portrayed by Brad Pitt, and as Sergeant Doyle in 28 Weeks Later. He appeared alongside Minnie Driver in Take and guest starred as a patient in an episode of House as a reckless rock musician. Renner had a role in the pilot of The Oaks but the series was not picked up.

 

Breakthrough: 2009–present

After starring with Dallas Roberts in the comedy-drama Lightbulb and starring in the short-lived television series The Unusuals, Renner went on to achieve critical success for his portrayal as bomb disposal expert, Sergeant William James in the 2009 Iraq war thriller The Hurt Locker (directed by Kathryn Bigelow). The role earned him several awards in the Best Actor category and his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor as well a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

 

In 2010, Renner's performance in Ben Affleck's The Town alongside Jon Hamm, Blake Lively, Slaine and Michael Yebba garnered him rave reviews and his second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.He also gained his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor and his second Screen Actors Guild nomination.The Hollywood Reporter named Renner as one of the young male actors who are "pushing – or being pushed" into taking over Hollywood as the new "A-List".

 

In 2011, Renner had an uncredited cameo appearance as Hawkeye in Thor for familiarity with his character for The Avengers, which was released in May 2012.In December 2011,.he starred alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the fourth installment of the Mission: Impossible series, as a new addition to Ethan Hunt's team.

 

In 2012, Renner starred as Hawkeye in the Marvel film, The Avengers. The same year, he also starred in the fourth film in the Bourne franchise, The Bourne Legacy, which was written and directed by Tony Gilroy.Renner played a new lead character, Aaron Cross, in place of Jason Bourne, who was played by Matt Damon in the first three films. Renner has expressed interest in doing a Bourne film with Damon in the future, stating that "[it] would be kick-ass. I love Matt".

 

Renner has completed filming for the action horror-comedy Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, in which he and Gemma Arterton star as Hansel and Gretel. The 3-D film is set 15 years after Hansel and Gretel kill the witch who kidnapped them. The film's release date has been pushed to January 2013 by the Studio.

 

Music

As well as acting, Renner is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist and drummer. Early in his acting career, he performed in the Sons of Ben. For the soundtrack of North Country he performed "I Drink Alone". In the 2006 films Love Comes to the Executioner and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Renner performed the songs "American Pie" and "Good Ole Rebel". He also appeared in music videos like "Trouble" by P!nk and "Scenes on Sunset" by Brother Sal.

 

Personal life

He is good friends with actors Ben Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Colin Farrell, Charlize Theron, and Scarlett Johansson.His best friend is fellow actor Kristoffer Winters, with whom he still runs a successful house-renovating business. In the past he has also studied disciplines including world religion, criminology, Filipino stick fighting, and Muay Thai martial arts.

 

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	National Lampoon's Senior Trip	Dags
1996	Paper Dragons	Uncredited
2001	Fish in a Barrel	Remy
2002	Dahmer	Jeffrey Dahmer
	Monkey Love	Dil
2003	S.W.A.T.	Brian Gamble
2004	Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, TheThe Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things	Emerson
2005	Little Trip to Heaven, AA Little Trip to Heaven	Fred
	North Country	Bobby Sharp
	12 and Holding	Gus Maitland
	Neo Ned	Ned
	Lords of Dogtown	Jay Adams Manager	Uncredited
2006	Love Comes to the Executioner	Chick Prigusivac
2007	The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford	Wood Hite
	28 Weeks Later	Sergeant Doyle
	Take	Saul
2008	Hurt Locker, TheThe Hurt Locker	Sergeant First Class William James
	Ingenious	Sam	aka "Lightbulb"
2010	Town, TheThe Town	James "Jem" Coughlin
2011	Thor	Clint Barton/Hawkeye	Cameo (uncredited)
	Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol	William Brandt
2012	Avengers, TheThe Avengers	Clint Barton/Hawkeye
	The Bourne Legacy	Aaron Cross/Kenneth J. Kitsom
2013	Nightingale	Orlando the Magician	Post-production
	Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters	Hansel	Post-production
	Untitled David O. Russell/Abscam Project	Jimmy Boyle	Post-production

 
Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Deadly Games	Tod	Episode: "Boss"
1996	Strange Luck	Jojo Picard	Episode: "Blinded by the Son"
	Friend's Betrayal, AA Friend's Betrayal	Simon	TV movie
1997	Nightmare Come True, AA Nightmare Come True	Steven Zarn	TV movie
1999	Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane	Jack	Pilot episode
	Net, ThThe Net	Ted Nida	Episode: "Chem Lab"
	Time of Your Life	Taylor	Episode: "The Time the Truth Was Told"
2000	Angel	Penn	Episode: Somnambulist
2001	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Roger Jennings	Episode: Alter Boys
2002	It Factor, TheThe It Factor	Himself
2007	House	Jimmy Quidd	Episode: "Games"
2008	Oaks, TheThe Oaks	Dan	Pilot episode
2009	Unusuals, TheThe Unusuals	Detective Jason Walsh	10 episodes
2011	Robot Chicken	Sergeant First Class William James (voice)	Episode "Fool's Goldfinger"
2012	Saturday Night Live	Host	Season 38, Episode 8 (November 17, 2012)