Jeremy Lee "Renni" Renner (born 1971) is an American actor 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.
Renner 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.
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.
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 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)
- The Bourne Legacy (2012): Aaron Cross
- Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013): Hansel
- American Hustle (2013): Mayor Carmine Polito
- Kill the Messenger (2014): Gary Webb
- Arrival (2016): Ian Donnelly
- Wind River (2017)
- Tag (2018)
Music:
- "Main Attraction"
- "Nomad"
- "House of the Rising Sun" (cover)
- "Heaven Don't Have a Name" (collaboration with Sam Feldt and solo recording)
Tropes displayed by Jeremy Renner include:
- Advertised Extra: Admitted that while he was happy to have done The Avengers, he felt that Hawkeye was snubbed in screentime. Joss 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.
- Loony Fan: Was sadly a victim of this after playing Jeffrey Dahmer - one fan bit him on his arm, while another kidnapped his pet cat Milo.
- Older Than They Look: Not as much as some in Hollywood but it's still hard to believe the man is his forties, 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.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Renner is primarily an action star, and has played a lot of roles that reek of testosterone. He started out in showbiz as a make-up artist, and happily hands out make-up advice to co-stars and fans at the drop of a hat.
- The Southpaw: Notable in S.W.A.T. because he wears a vest designed for right-handed shooters, and in The Avengers where he wears Hawkeye's archer bracer on his right wrist.
