Jeremy Renner: ‘Bourne’ Actor Could Become Hollywood’s Next Action Star

Jeremy Renner doesn’t fit the stereotype of the Hollywood action hero, but the lead in the newest installment of the Jason Bourne series is poised to become the next big star.

Renner is an up-and-coming star despite taking longer to prove himself in Hollywood, Forbes noted. At 41, most Hollywood stars have already established themselves as known commodities, but Jeremy Renner is instead a newcomer on the rise, riding the momentum of his scene-stealing performance in 2008s The Hurt Locker.

The movie about a bomb squad in Iraq won best picture and earned Jeremy Renner an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, but, more than anything, the film announced to Hollywood that he was a bankable star. He turned in another great performance in The Town, a Ben Affleck project, and earned himself another Oscar nomination.

It’s not just his age that makes Jeremy Renner an unlikely star, Newsday points out. Though handsome, he has unconventional looks and “a nose that looks like it might have taken a punch,” reporter John Anderson described. Renner also said he’s yet to master the Hollywood interview process.

“I don’t like to cut people off,” he told Newsday. “I had this guy this morning who was very thoughtful and informed and kept talking, as if maybe he was waiting for me to say something. I’m not sure if he wanted me to jump in or not. I like to let someone finish his thought. So I don’t know.”

Despite the fast start at a late age, Jeremy Renner’s rise hit a snag in the past year, Forbes noted. Though he was rumored to be taking over the lead of the Mission Impossible franchise, he instead played a supporting role in its latest installment, Mission Impossible — Ghost Protocol. His role as Hawkeye in The Avengers also had the least screen time of all the superheroes, and he even spent much of the movie as a villain.

But Renner has come back with another strong performance in The Bourne Legacy, which topped the weekend box office with $47 million. He is likely to continue on with the franchise.

Jeremy Renner has a chance to cement his super-stardom with a Will Ferrell project set for release later this year, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. With Ferrell on as a producer it appears the film will have a comedic tilt, giving Renner the chance to establish himself across many genres.