Jeremy Renner

Jeremy Lee Renner (born January 7, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career by appearing in independent films such as Dahmer (2002) and Neo Ned (2005), then supporting roles in bigger films, such as S.W.A.T. (2003) and 28 Weeks Later (2007). Renner gained Academy Award nominations for Best Actor for his performance as a soldier in The Hurt Locker (2009) and for Best Supporting Actor for playing a hot-headed robber in The Town (2010).

Renner has played Clint Barton / Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the film The Avengers (2012) and the Disney+ miniseries Hawkeye (2021). He has also appeared in the Mission: Impossible series (2011–2015) and The Bourne Legacy (2012) and the drama films American Hustle (2013) and Arrival (2016). Since 2021, he has starred in the Paramount+ crime thriller series Mayor of Kingstown. In 2023, Renner survived a near-fatal snowplow accident, undergoing a widely publicized recovery before returning to Mayor of Kingstown and returning to film in Wake Up Dead Man (2025).

Early life and education

Jeremy Lee Renner was born on January 7, 1971 in Modesto, California. His mother, Valerie Cearley (née Tague), and father, Lee Renner, managed McHenry Bowl, a Modesto bowling alley, in the 1980s. His parents married as teenagers and divorced when he was ten. He is the oldest of seven siblings, the youngest of whom was born in 2011. He is of Irish and German descent.

Renner graduated from Fred C. Beyer High School in Modesto in 1989. He attended Modesto Junior College, where he studied computer science and criminology, before he took a drama class as an elective and decided to pursue acting.

Career

1995–2001: Early work

Renner made his film debut as an underachieving student in the 1995 comedy 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 film A Friend's Betrayal as the friend of Paul Hewitt (Brian Austin Green). 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). In 2001, Renner had a small role in an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Renner worked as a makeup artist during this period to help make ends meet.

2002–2008: Early success

In 2002, Renner starred in Dahmer as the eponymous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. He found the non-fiction role a challenge to cope with after he had finished shooting the film, knowing that Dahmer had murdered seventeen 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, with roles in North Country and 12 and Holding. He next starred as a neo-Nazi skinhead who is admitted into a psychiatric hospital in Neo Ned with Gabrielle Union. The film won awards at multiple film festivals, including the Palm Beach International Film Festival Award for Best Actor. After shooting Neo Ned, Renner was offered the lead in the Las Vegas indie Northtown, but the project never happened. 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.

In 2007 Renner had supporting roles 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 starred with Minnie Driver in Take and guest-starred as a patient (a reckless rock musician) in an episode of House. Renner had a role in the pilot of The Oaks, but the series was not picked up.

2009–2013: Critical and commercial breakout

After starring in the comedy-drama Ingenious and the short-lived television series The Unusuals, Renner portrayed U.S. Army bomb disposal expert Sergeant First Class William James in the 2009 Iraq War thriller The Hurt Locker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow. The role earned him several Best Actor awards 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 and Blake Lively, received extremely positive reviews and earned him his second Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. He also gained his first Golden Globe nomination in the same category 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 starred as William Brandt in the fourth Mission: Impossible film, Ghost Protocol, and made his screen introduction as Hawkeye in an uncredited cameo appearance in Marvel Studios' Thor, teasing his starring role in The Avengers, released in May 2012. The same year, he also starred in the fourth film in the Bourne franchise, The Bourne Legacy, written and directed by Tony Gilroy. Renner played a new lead character, Aaron Cross, in place of Jason Bourne, 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 starred in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters in a titular role alongside Gemma Arterton. Filmed in 2011 and released in January 2013, the 3-D fantasy action film was set 15 years after Hansel and Gretel killed the witch who kidnapped them. Renner was also featured in the ensemble cast of David O. Russell's American Hustle (2013), based on the controversial FBI ABSCAM operation of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The film, with Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence in principal roles, received much critical acclaim, including a Screen Actors Guild Award for the cast and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

2014–2020: Mainstream success

In October 2014, Renner starred as journalist Gary Webb in the Focus Features film Kill the Messenger, based on Webb's book Dark Alliance. Renner also co-produced the film. In December 2014, Crackle aired The Throwaways, a film for which Renner served as executive producer.

In 2015, Renner reprised his role as Hawkeye in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the sequel to The Avengers. He returned to the Mission: Impossible franchise in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, released in July 2015. In 2016, Renner played Hawkeye again in the summer blockbuster film Captain America: Civil War, and starred with Amy Adams in the sci-fi film Arrival. Renner is a producer of the 2016 film The Founder starring Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc. In 2015, his production company The Combine signed a deal with PalmStar Media.

In 2016, Renner was an executive producer on History's historical drama Knightfall. In 2017, while working on the film Tag (2018), Renner fractured his right elbow and his left wrist. He appeared in the film Wind River with his MCU co-star Elizabeth Olsen in 2016.

Renner filmed scenes as Hawkeye for Avengers: Infinity War (2018), but ultimately did not appear in the film, with his scenes instead moved to Avengers: Endgame (2019), where he had a starring role. Because of scheduling conflicts resulting from the filming of Infinity War and Endgame, he was unable to reprise his role as William Brandt in Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018). In July 2018, Renner was announced to play Twitch Williams in Todd McFarlane's King Spawn.

2021–present: Current projects

He reprised his role as Hawkeye in the eponymous 2021 Disney+ series. In the same year, Renner began starring in the Paramount+ series Mayor of Kingstown.

In 2024, Renner appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for the brand Silk, alongside his daughter.

Following his accident and recovery, Renner's first major feature film role was in the 2025 Rian Johnson mystery Wake Up Dead Man. His return to acting was a significant focus of the film's media coverage.