Jeremy Renner – Small Town Boy Hits Big
Jeremy Renner is, I think, the one actor who could possibly upset Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart (which seems like a done deal, but you never know with Oscar). Renner is not only in the film that has captured the attention of voters, The Hurt Locker, but is also one of the main reasons that film is so successful. What was unexpected with Renner’s nomination, though, was his reaction of complete and total surprise. Most of the contenders probably figured they were going to get in – even the ones who hadn’t been down that Oscar road before, like Mo’Nique (who was genuinely surprised and near tears when she was interviewed post-nominations), are so used to it that they have to try hard to act excited about it all. For Renner, it really is a dream come true, as are all of The Hurt Locker crew, like the Slumdog crew last year – they might be winning every award in site, but it still must feel like a surreal experience that this film came back from the brink and is doing so well at awards time.
Here is Renner and co-star Anthony Mackie (who really should have been nominated – if I have one major complaint, this would be it) on The Today Show after the nominations.
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Renner is a small town boy who grew up in Modesto. Many people think of California as being one big Malibu or San Francisco. But the majority of the state are small towns. The Modesto Bee and the other outlets in that area are so excited about Renner’s nomination, they had Renner’s mother and sister on to talk about it. Renner was apparently a shy kid, a computer nerd who wasn’t much into acting until later on.
Sorry, had to remove the Modesto Bee video.
All eyes will be on Renner at the Oscars, no doubt. A big show for a relatively unknown star (he was great in Dahmer):
About 20 minutes after the nominations, Renner called his mother and asked her to be his date to the Oscars ceremony March 7. She accepted while joking about hitting the gym every day before her walk down the red carpet.
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[...] Bigelow and co-star Anthony Mackie (whom many feel should have been nominated, me among them) on yesterday’s Today show. Meredith Vieira notes to Bigelow that she’s only the fourth woman to be nominated for Best [...]
Patrick the Nice says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 6:57am
Small town?! I guess from the L.A. perspective, the 16th largest city in California with a population over 200,000 is a small town? Sheesh.
(I grew up in a small town… of 2,500 people.)
Sasha Stone says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:05am
Well I live in LA, so every other place seems small to me. What would you rather I say, Boy from Medium Sized Town? Just doesn’t have the same ring. Fresno is a small town to me too. Where you grew up is much smaller, yes. But still…Modesto is like Bakersfield, Lodi, Stockton, Barstow, etc. I think of them as small towns.
Trent says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:07am
Jeremy was actually my favorite part of 28 Weeks Later. He’s got a great energy. I’m happy for him.
Devlin says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:07am
Renner so deserved his nomination, and deserves to win. I get the reasons for Jeff Bridges winning, he’s a respected actor long overdue for some awards love, and I’m totally fine with him winning – he is the dude after all. But if acting Oscars were handed out solely for the merit of the performance (which we know they aren’t), then it’d be Renner for sure. Maybe he will pull an Adrien Brody?
Free says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:09am
While I disagree about Renner being the only potential upset (Clooney probably is, but there won’t be an upset because Jeff’s winning), I was happiest to see him nominated.
Like I’ve said earlier, hearing his name called on Tuesday was like hearing Ryan Gosling’s called for “Half Nelson,” although Renner’s spot was actually more secure.
Totally agree about Anthony Mackie, though. I would have put him and taken out Damon.
Eric says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:23am
It would be kinda nice if Renner pulled off an upset. I’m really rooting for him. I think he was in the better movie and simply had a better performance. A lot of people are saying that Bridges will win simply because it will be a career Oscar.
If this was a perfect world, Clooney and Bridges would split the vote opening a path for Renner.
Gregoire says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:24am
Jeremy Renner and his family are adorable and I’m glad to see him get recognized, but, I agree with many of you, the star of The Hurt Locker to me was Anthony Mackie.
the other mike says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:30am
lol at Anthony Mackie turning up at 8.30 am and getting left hanging . he has been pimping himself outlooking 4 a nom and i bet he feels stupid now. like going to a dance and u then only one without a date. have some dignity man.
Trent says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:34am
I’m positive he’s excited for his partners-in-crime and the love his movie’s getting. No matter what, he’ll get more work because of THL.
Patrick the Nice says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:35am
I understand, Sasha. It’s always all a matter of perspective. I just find it amusing is all.
I fear when I see Crazy Heart being rather underwhelmed by Bridges, often true with “life achievement” Oscars.
the other mike says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:35am
and lmao at meredith ( is that her name?) talking about 4th woman this, 1st woman that, these feminists dont quit do they??………just kidding.
in all seriousness though i am pulling 4 this film and Kathryn 2 win best director.
bambi says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:39am
I hope Renner upsets because he was amazing. He deserves to win.
Mackie was robbed. He should`ve replaced Damon, Plummer or Tucci.
#8 “lol at Anthony Mackie turning up at 8.30 am and getting left hanging . he has been pimping himself outlooking 4 a nom and i bet he feels stupid now. like going to a dance and u then only one without a date. have some dignity man.”
It`s OK to turn up to support your movie. And he would be deserving of the nom. Too bad that he didn`t have Maggie Gyllenhaal moment.
Alaroons says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:40am
Renner and Mackie were both terrific in THL. Neither performance was showy which will hurt Renner in the final vote.
Agley says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:40am
The best nomination at yesterday morning.
bambi says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:46am
Jeremy says that greatest man alive Cameron is “sweet and supportive.” OMG, Cameron = sweet. :love: And Jeremy is from Modesto like that other greatest man alive George Lucas. :heart: I`m so geeking out now. :geeks:
Pierre de Plume says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:08am
As many here may recall, Modesto is also George Lucas’s hometown and the setting of American Graffiti.
To my way of thinking, Renner is the most likely nominee to pull an upset because his film has a higher profile, his intense performance is at the center of the film, and because Clooney already has won an Oscar.
Bridges will be difficult to beat, of course. He worked hard in that performance (though it doesn’t show), and the best parts of it, I believe, are in the smaller moments with Gyllenhaal — so he has her to thank, as well.
Renner is an interesting and unique actor — I look forward to his subsequent work.
jwright40 says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:09am
Agree w/#3 – loved him in ’28 Weeks Later’ (one of the finest recent examples of a film that was much better than it had to be). Been looking out for this guy since ‘North Country’, where he was a nuanced, unshowy villain. So relieved he was nominated. I don’t want to take away from Jeff though. That fellow deserves it – for this role and for his career, both.
Btw, I live in NYC, and 200K is not a small town. Take a train for 40 minutes north/northeast/west, and you get real small towns. As a compromise, Modesto might be a BIG town (or ceaseless semiurban sprawl if you’d rather).
Sasha Stone says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:10am
he has been pimping himself outlooking 4 a nom and i bet he feels stupid now. like going to a dance and u then only one without a date. have some dignity man.
Spoken like a true know-nothing. Anthony Mackie goes where the publicists tell him to go. That’s called being cooperative. If you don’t, they complain like they did with Mo’Nique. They sent him just in case and he was there to support. He should have nominated. But the last thing Anthony Mackie was there for was to win. None of them knew for sure they would get nominated. And I thought, in Jeremy Renner’s hug, you could feel his sympathy and disappointment for Mackie — Mackie was gliding right over it like a gentleman. It’s all gravy anyway.
JTag says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:13am
That Matt Damon nomination makes me so angry and sad for Anthony Mackie. But I’m glad he’s been such a trooper through all this. As much as I The Dude, I am pulling for the Jeremy Renner upset.
Bambi, you might appreciate Mark Boal’s quote over at thewrap.com “It really is hard for me to wrap my head conceptually around the idea that I’m in competition with “Avatar” for anything. I mean, I like Jim, and I remember Kathryn calling me and saying, “You have no idea who your best friend is.” “Who?” “Jim Cameron. He’s a huge supporter of your screenplay.” So maybe I should feel competitive with him, but I can’t.”
Afrika is back bishes says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:24am
This is a sweet video of his family rejoicing. Good luck buddy.
bambi says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:24am
#19
Thanks for the quote. Funny thing is that media induced “competition” between Cameron&Bigelow and Hl&Avatar is improving Cameron`s image since everyone reflects on how supportive and really happy of Bigelow and HL success he is. Besides, back in summer when HL just wow`d critcs but didn`t win over the audience, Cameron gave an interview at the Comic Con and singled out HL. he said he saw it several times (and I believe it cause it`s his type of a movie, military and all, he likes that) and praised K-Big. I remeber him saying “she has such a bullshit detector which is why her movies are always so real.” The way he said it, you could see he totally admires the lady and was happy for her. he said he encouraged her to go with that movie so it isn`t like he has just jumped on the bandwaggon and is trying to boost his hype by association. It was all long time ago so he is the earliest supporter they had.
BTW, Boal is a spring chicken.
86Mookie says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:32am
Referring to Modesto as a small town is completely ridiculous.
David says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:38am
I definitely understand that size is relative, but I agree that Modesto isn’t a small town to me. I grew up in a town of 2,000 and currently live in a “city” of about 50,000.
Good for Renner, though. Sadly, I can recall when he starred in National Lampoon’s Senior Trip back in the earlier part of the 90s. It’s not as pleasant as Penn, Cage, Whitaker, and Crowe being launched to Oscar glory from Fast Times, but it’ll do.
Katey says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:49am
At last year’s New York Comic Con, in February, they had Renner doing interviews for The Hurt Locker in this stuffy conference room with like 6 of us, none of whom had seen the film and none of whom were really able to ask any worthwhile questions as a result. We couldn’t really figure out why Summit had sent him to Comic Con at all. But Renner was as nice and elegant an interview as you could ask for, and seemed completely unaware that the movie would go this far. It’s a great thing to see.
BrianB says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:52am
That video of his family was awesome. I love that he was the last name…
Rama says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:02am
I was wondering why renner was nominated for his part in THL in LAST YEAR Spirit Awards. One thing I remember when I was looking at the ceremony was that I didnt know anything about that movie. Why was he nominated last year and not this one?
Kay says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:13am
That was really adorable, love how him and Mackie are so close.
red_wine says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:13am
Renner was outstanding and would make a great winner, though I’ve only seen him, Clooney & Freeman from the nominees. He gives a magnetic, virile performance and gets us into the head of a really complicated character that carries the movie with movie star ease.
Here are the two critics poll which also voted on Best Actor
http://www.indiewire.com/survey/annual_critics_survey_2009/best_lead_performance
1. Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker NOMINEE
2. Joaquin Phoenix, Two Lovers (daylight robbery of a nomination)
3. Tom Hardy, Bronson
4. Matt Damon, The Informant!
5. Colin Firth, A Single Man NOMINEE
6. Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man
7. Nicolas Cage, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
8. Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart WINNER
9. Alex Descas, 35 Shots of Rum
10.George Clooney, Fantastic Mr. Fox
11.George Clooney, Up in the Air NOMINEE
Morgan Freeman does not get a single vote.
http://www.villagevoice.com/filmpoll/index/actor/2009
1. Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker NOMINEE
2. Nicolas Cage, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
3. Colin Firth, A Single Man NOMINEE
4. Joaquin Phoenix, Two Lovers (out out outstanding)
5. Tom Hardy, Bronson
6. Matt Damon, The Informant!
7. Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man
8. Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart WINNER
.
.
.
14.George Clooney, Up in the Air NOMINEE
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
38.Morgan Freeman, Invictus NOMINEE
So yeah, you can see a pattern as to what critics thought was the best male performance of the year. Renner tops both polls.
Bridges will win because he is the beloved unrewarded star.
Freeman was so absolutely undesrving, its a shame he got nominated. He’s a great man and great actor but Boo! for his nomination. Ditto Matt Damon.
Antoinette says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:16am
Alphabetical order, peeps. Alphabetical order. LOL That’s adorable.
I’ve been rooting for Jeremy Renner since I saw the film in the summer so I’m just really happy with the nomination. I’m not going to bother “rooting” for him to win now because I believe Jeff Bridges has it in the bag, and I don’t want to give myself a stroke. I’ll just pretend I don’t know what’s happening. His run is sort of like Brody’s but that year all the veterans Brody was up against had one already so it was okay to give it to a “newbie”. Bridges doesn’t have one and it’s what, his fifth (?) nomination. I can’t see a way around Bridges because of that, but I would be extremely ecstatic if it happened.
I can’t tell you how awesome it was watching Jeremy react live to his nomination yesterday morning although the idea of him being there and not getting nommed was terrifying.
Antoinette says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:26am
btw, sorry if this is a double post, Jeremy is supposed to be on Letterman tonight. In case you guys wanna watch.
http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/
Evelyn Garver says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:39am
Adding to Antoinette’s very perceptive analysis of Renner’s Oscar chances, I would like to point out that the year Brody won there had been 2 ties between Nicholson and Day-Lewis for awards as well as each actor winning different precursor awards. It seems likely a split vote benefited Brody. Bridges has had a much clearer path recently. I don’t see a Clooney-Bridges split benefiting this deserving young man.
David Lindsey says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:44am
Thanks for posting this, Sasha.
richard says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:52am
omg sasha, you’re note about mom at the oscars made me cry! i can’t wait to see that!
JTag says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 10:03am
A few months ago, I think it was mentioned in the NY TImes that Renner was turning down some offers to do the schmooze circuit. I’m so glad he came out on the winning end of that one.
Bill W. says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 10:09am
People often assume that if you say you’re from New York that you must mean New York City. But in fact, there’s an entire upstate area that’s mostly wilderness. And the state capital is Albany. And that’s where I live.
The Mark Johnson says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 10:15am
[edited for being an ass - mind your manners or get off my lawn]
Yvette says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 10:38am
Renner’s family was precious! Loved watching that!!! I hope he wins and I really hope he takes his Mom to the Oscars. Thanks for posting Sasha!
kk says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 10:39am
I am so happy for him and Monique. Im sure neither of them expected to ever be at the oscars and this means a lot to both of them, whereas others probly just take it for granted. they are very humble and im sure regardless if they win or not they will truly cherish this moment. def my fav two performances of this year<3
Joolz says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 10:48am
I don’t care what anyone says, stories like this and videos like that of his family celebrating, makes my sentimental heart smile.
Jack says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 11:16am
Well, that totally gave me warm fuzzies.
Marshall says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 11:45am
I know this doesn’t particularly pertain to the discussion, but how do you get the video to embed in a blog post? I can’t seem to get anything other than the little bit of MSNBC text underneath the video…if anyone can help me, it would be much appreciated.
voland says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 11:59am
There’s just no way Bridges can loose by now. Praising other actors work is fine but why suggest a race where none exists?
Sasha Stone says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 12:26pm
I know this doesn’t particularly pertain to the discussion, but how do you get the video to embed in a blog post? I can’t seem to get anything other than the little bit of MSNBC text underneath the video…if anyone can help me, it would be much appreciated.
You have to always embed the code in html format (do you use wordpress)? Usually you’re posting in wysiwyg but you have to switch to raw html to post embeds….
Jonathan Spuij says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 1:04pm
I don’t buy it. Clooney is still the biggest (albeit relatively small) threat.
Jeremie says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 1:20pm
“Jeremy Renner is, I think, the one actor who could possibly upset Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart”
Indeed ! What about an article on the possible THL upset in Best documentary and Best Foreign Films. Not nominated but I’m sure somebody can find some dubious reasons why it could still make it…
A Renner upset in Best Actor? That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard all day. From the nominees he is the one with absolutely no chance of an upset.
[edited for being an ASS - gave last warning]
SeattleMoviegoer says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 1:26pm
when else would Mackie be featured on the TODAY SHOW?
nom or not, it’s good exposure for him. tho it is embarrassing to sit there hoping for a nomination and it doesn’t come. years ago the old lady from CROSSING DELANCEY was on the TODAY show, in expectation of being nominated. she was so sad when it didn’t happen. it broke my heart watching her. maybe it’s best to be “home in bed asleep” and awakened by that “friend who called with the news.”
HaroldsMaude says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 1:46pm
Renner is a very deserving nominee – he and the Iraq war are the stars of THL. It’s a great performance in a great film. The nomination is great for his career and good to add to THL’s total.
But he’s young and newish and he’s up against Jeff Bridges who has been around since before The Last Picture Show in the early 1970s and is good in everything he does (go ahead, pile on). And his performance in Crazy Heart is a tour de force. I’ve been watching Jeff Bridges for 30 plus years now, and I still feel like I’ve been living with Bad Blake in my head for the last few days since seeing the film.
As Evelyn said above, he won’t pull an Adrian Brody because there’s no neck and neck competition between two other actors this year. Carey Mulligan is closer to that possibility.
Nope, finally and rightfully, this is Jeff Bridges’ time.
Marshall says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 1:56pm
@ Sasha -
I’ve tried using the embed code in the HTML and it still doesn’t work – and I do use wordpress. The only thing I can seem to embed is YouTube…do you have to alter the embed code somehow?
Sasha Stone says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 2:06pm
You usually don’t, Marshall. Do you have an updated version of WordPress? And also, html code is very weird. You have to make sure you have copied all of it. I would take the code and past it into a text file and take a look at it – then I would paste it in wordpress under the html tab only. Also, do you have any video plugins installed?
SeattleMoviegoer says:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 2:18pm
HaroldsMaude…
i’m in complete agreement.
it’s Bridges’ time.
i thought it would never come.
Lloyd will be looking down with a smile.