Jeremy Renner

Jeremy Renner portrayed Clint Barton/Hawkeye in Thor and The Avengers.

Significant roles

 * Jeffrey Dahmer in Dahmer (2002)
 * Brian Gamble in S.W.A.T. (2003)
 * Ned in Neo Ned (2005)
 * Gus Maitland in Twelve and Holding (2005)
 * Bobby Sharp in North Country (2005)
 * Doyle in 28 Weeks Later (2007)
 * Wood Hite in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
 * Sgt. William James in The Hurt Locker (2008)
 * Det. Jason Walsh in The Unusuals (2009)
 * James Coughlin in The Town (2010)
 * Brandt in Mission: Impossible IV (2011)

Quotes

 * "I am so exited. I feel like a 14-year-old boy. It is going to be a lot of fun. I am not disillusioned by the fact that they are big movies. They are not the dramas I've done, the character roles I've done. But it's stretching and growing into new territories for me. The physicality is fun. After this, I'm going to do training for "M:I4." It's like playtime."
 * "Well, I literally haven't been in a gym this year. So stretching for a half hour is a workout — it's pathetic. We're doing sticks, knives, guns, close hand-to-hand combat training. Stuff to make you look like a badass on screen."
 * "I've never experienced anything quite like that. I'm sure Bono sees that every time he plays a show. You feel like a rock star for 10 minutes. It's completely bananas. I feel like I'm a part of some- thing much bigger than me. I hope I can provide the fans what they need."
 * "I think it's going to be a little more reality-based, you can kind of tell with Scarlett [Johansson]'s character [in 'Iron Man 2'], it's going to be more of a uniform . . . and not a big purple, comics sort of thing."
 * "That's why I think it's more palatable to audiences — there's almost a sense of reality to these superheroes, That's what makes it interesting to me, anyway."
 * "We will [Scarlett's character] [have a relationship], I think, in this one as well, we're kind of a team, and what that relationship is, is still to be discovered."
 * "Well comic book movies are the only movies being made", "They don't make films like The Town very often do they?"
 * "I've known Joss actually for a long while from doing a little arc on Angel, which was fun."
 * "He's got a very good sensibility. It's a world he knows very well. He kind of gave me an idea of where the character is going. It's all grounded in reality, which is great. It's a character, Hawkeye, that isn't really a superhero — he just has a high skill set. That's something I can also connect to. I just have to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow!"
 * "It was in my consciousness for sure, and I know what I want to do to prepare, but right now I’m preparing for “Mission Impossible IV.” Cause that came into my life very quickly. Actually I’m going to do stunt training right after this."
 * "I’m blind to all that sort of thing. I know very little about the story. I know a little about the character and how I want to approach it. It’s a very physical character. I’ll be doing archery and training physically as much as I can. Then once I get a script I can dig into the heart of who this guy is."
 * "Well, I felt pretty happy over the decade working so much and getting to do some great films. It's just to be able to do more and stretch and grow as an artist. It never felt like there was a timeline. I was ecstatic about where I was over the last 10 years. I'm almost 40, but I don't look 40, and I don't play 40, and I'm not going to for a while! ... I say to my friends, "Is this real? Is this really happening?" I constantly pinch myself, because I can't believe I'm in Dubai shooting Mission: Impossible. I embrace all of it, even the negative things that come along with this success."
 * "I was just texting with Downey... We did a creative meeting with everyone months ago before everyone took off. We met with Joss and the cast and Marvel, just in terms of the script and where we want it to go. It was a little powwow. It feels like a very collaborative effort. Right now we're off and dividing and conquering, but soon we'll link up and get the rest of the guys and work on that. I'm very thankful for everyone I get to work with. It's a tremendous time in my life".
 * "And then I go do "The Avengers" and hopefully I don’t get hit by a bus, because I'd really like to go see these movies. That's all I do know to be true. People can speculate that I'm gonna sprout wings out my back and fly around this room. Okay, sure."
 * "Yes, I have [read the 'Avengers' script]. It's tremendous. I can't tell you anything about it. It's a massive undertaking, how he [will need to] pull all of those characters off and have it make sense. That guy's [Joss Whedon] elusive. He's like a ninja. [He's] elusive. 'I don't see him very often."
 * "There's some training I have to do, some archery lessons, obviously."
 * "The only sort of thing I cling to is the relationship of past experiences with Scarlett’s character, with them both being human. I can cling to that."
 * "He’s the only one who can really take down The Hulk with his tranq tip arrows. He knows his limitations. But when it comes down to it, there has to be a sense of confidence in any superhero."
 * "I never went after a big franchise. I never went after a big action movie. They just sort of kind of manifested in a way... It started off by me saying, 'Why not be in a movie that will play all over the world, but that still has something that I can do in it?' Why not?"
 * "[I] was blessed to be a part of [the Marvel] universe, because I love what Marvel did with something so fantastical and unrealistic, making it kind of plausible, like when they did Iron Man. I just thought those were really great movies, the first one in particular... The character of Hawkeye was always cool. He's kind of a rogue, shadowy character. That's what attracted me to him. Then he's also a human being. He just has a high skill set, so they call him a superhero."
 * "Hawkeye is alone in the game, an outcast and a loner; he’s a lone wolf sort of character, so he’s not a team player, but will be there if needed."
 * "Barton has been monitoring Dr. Selvig to make sure he isn’t doing anything to the Tesseract. He is an intense guy and takes his duties very seriously, but things start to go horribly wrong with the Tesseract and suddenly Barton is face to face with Loki, which is not a great place to be. Kevin Feige showed me images of Hawkeye from The Ultimates and they were very cool, but what I liked more then anything was the idea that he’s a human being with a high skill set who is a bit of a rogue agent. I’ve played a few snipers before and there’s a really interesting mentality that comes along with being a sharp shooter, so I thought it was a pretty fun character to play."
 * "Avengers was the first big movie I signed on to. It was something Zak Penn was the writer on; he's a friend. Then I met Kevin Feige, and Zak was really pushing, saying 'You guys have got to hire Renner.' "

Trivia

 * Renner worked with Daredevil actors Colin Farrell on S.W.A.T. (which also stared Samuel L. Jackson) and Ben Affleck on The Town.