Jeremy Renner is not a big Hollywood name, or at least, he wasn’t until this year. Here is Ben Affleck, writing for Variety, on Renner (thanks to Mr. Ellwood for the twip):
Jeremy pulls you in so that you identify with that person. His performance is the result of a tremendous work ethic and commitment. It’s very hard to fake. That part could easily have gone the way of archetype or even worse a kind of cliche of the crazy renegade guy who breaks the rules. Instead Jeremy’s character is probably the most honestly drawn of everyone in the movie. You’re paying the most attention to him because he’s so accurately rendered. And he makes you watch him because you want to see what he’s going to do next. I don’t know what it’s like to have that job. I don’t know what kind of life those guys live. But I get the sense from watching Jeremy that he got it right. You really got an idea of the reality of life in that branch of service — what it would be like to do that kind of job. You don’t feel for a second that Jeremy’s not the person he’s playing. And that compete immersion into the character is what pulls us all into that suit and makes us all feel like we’re trying to diffuse that bomb with him. And that’s what makes that movie so incredibly tense. By the end of it I could barely stand up because my back had seized up. We’re lucky. With Jeremy we’re seeing the beginnings of a body of work from an actor who’s obviously really gifted.
11 Responses for "Ben Affleck on Jeremy Renner"
Very nice of Mr. Affleck. I would absolutely love for Jeremy Renner to get noticed by AMPAS, but I know that’s a big favor to ask.
I truly only see these magnificent seven as the only ones fighting to get nominated:
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up in the Air
Daniel Day-Lewis – Nine
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Morgan Freeman – Invictus
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker
Viggo Mortensen – The Road
…the latter two might be snubbed, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I really liked Mortensen’s performance too.
No one could tell that you loved The Hurt Lucker by reading your website.
I’m guessing you’re being sarcastic.
The first movie I ever saw Jeremy Renner in was National Lampoon’s Senior Trip back in 1995. Yes, there was no way of ever knowing then that he would ever get Oscar buzz for anything, but he sure was funny and part of a hilarious group of misfits. I saw him later in some made-for-TV movie I can’t remember the title to, and then spotted him in North Country in 2005. That movie put him into the prestige world of film the Academy often awards, but I still wouldn’t think then he would be noticed by the Academy let alone its voters. Thanks to The Hurt Locker, there’s no going back. Way to go, Jeremy.
I’m really in love with this article. (I’m starshine_3 on twitter, in case you didn’t figure that out.
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This is why I’m pro any media possible when a movie like the Hurt Locker is released. It was in the movie houses about 3 weeks (in Chicago) and then it was gone, because no one was supporting it. I wanted to see it, but couldn’t within the short time frame. So Hollywood–when there’s a movie like the Hurt Locker, you should consider putting it online for pay for view, on Youtube movie channel, on Hulu, on cable pay per view. We/I cannot get to the movies every single week to see movies that have good writeups. I’m behind about 10 movies already….we are working people, we don’t have the time to sit in a movie house and the money ($8+) to spend each week. So please Hollywood, use alternative means of distributing your movies for folks like me. I would have gladly paid to see the Hurt Locker online through an internet channel.
I’ll back you up on that. I live an hour away from Boston and not all the movies make it down here. Somehow The Hurt Locker did but only for like 2 weeks at a time in the summer when probably no one around here had heard of it. I made sure I was there on day one. However, right now there are many Oscar type movies (and others) that are nowhere near me. Thursday my mom and I took the trip to Boston to see two of her faves, Nic Cage and Viggo Mortensen. The Road and Bad Lieutenant are a good bet to never make it here or even stay in Boston for that long so I didn’t want to miss them either. The money it cost for just the transportation and tickets, no snacks or anything, was $90. If I wasn’t half crazy I’d never do something like that. At the very least it’d be nice if when they aren’t going to release “Oscar” movies wide, that they’d get them onto DVD before the Golden Globes. So normal folks can watch them during Oscar season.
btw, Precious still isn’t here. And I’m not going out of my way for that.
@Antoinette your comment makes me feel very lucky that I live in nyc which gets just about everything. I sympathize with you and know if I was in a similar situation it would frustrate me. No Boston theaters have Precious yet, that’s at wide release right now?
Pretty much anything released after September won’t get to a DVD release until Feb most likely.
Boston has Precious, just not here where I live. And I wasn’t going to be in Boston long enough to see 3 movies. So Precious can wait til it gets down here. IF it gets down here.
I’ve been having this feeling for a while and I don’t know where to put it, it’s too soon for NGNG predictions, but when the time comes, mine will all start with a prediction for some major snubs for The Hurt Locker.
Affleck nails it. Jeremy Renner is one of those actors where you just hope he hangs in long enough to get noticed. Because he’s so good he just blends in, he’s almost TOO natural of an actor. Between “Dahmer” (a truly sad and frightening performance) and “North Country,” I knew that Renner would blow up with the right performance (no pun intended).
My fingers and toes are crossed that AMPAS does not have typical short attention span when it comes to him. NOMINATE HIS ASS!!!
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