In the early years of his career, in the 1990s, Jeremy Renner worked as a makeup artist due to his difficult financial situation.
Early in his career, the "Hawkeye" star worked as a makeup artist to help with expenses. Renner landed the job after he and a friend modeled for fragrances in a mall during the Christmas season in the early 1990s.
"And, so, after that was done and we made some good money, we also made friends within the department because we’re pretty much the only guys in that sort of cosmetic department," he revealed to the podcast "Armchair Expert."
"So, at the end of that gig, come January, there’s an opening at the Lancôme cosmetics counter," Renner said. "I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m going to go over to the gals. I already know them. I’m like, "What’s going on?" “Let’s talk about this.” And they already love me in a way, right? I knew nothing about cosmetics. So, I'll sit down and have a meeting with them. It’s like, "Tell us about your experience with makeup." I’m like, "Well, I do my own makeup."
"Wouldn’t it be interesting to get a man’s opinion on how a woman looks with makeup on?" he said. "So that was my gangster psychological way in. So I got the job." He chose to concentrate on cosmetics rather than skin care in order to achieve his goal of demonstrating to women how to achieve the look they desired.
"How do I make this woman feel beautiful? because beauty comes from within, right here in your heart. This is only going to express that. That was my job as a makeup artist, in my eyes."
Renner’s Career from 1995-2008
Renner made his acting debut in the 1995 comedy National Lampoon's Senior Trip as a weak student. The television movie A Friend's Betrayal gave him a minor role as Paul Hewitt's friend, and despite the film's poor reviews, he went on to guest star on two episodes of Deadly Games and Strange Luck.
Renner appeared as a guest star in a number of films over the ensuing years, including Jack, and Jane (1999), The Net (1999), The Time of Your Life (1999), and Angel (2000). Renner played a supporting role in a 2001 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode.
Renner portrayed the titular serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in the 2002 film “Dahmer.” Knowing that Dahmer had murdered seventeen victims after the movie was finished, he found it difficult to handle the non-fiction role. He received positive reviews for his performance and was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Male.
He also made an appearance as a bad boy sheriff in Pink's 2003 music video for the song "Trouble." Renner later made appearances in The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004) and S.W.A.T. (2003).
In addition to "North Country," "12," and "Holding," Renner starred in "A Little Trip to Heaven" in 2005. He then appeared alongside Gabrielle Union in Neo-Ned as a neo-Nazi skinhead who was checked into a mental institution. The movie received recognition at several film festivals, including the Best Actor Award from the Palm Beach International Film Festival.
Renner also played the manager of Emile Hirsch's character in an uncredited, minor role in the skateboarding movie “Lords of Dogtown.” He co-starred in the 2006 film "Love Comes to the Executioner" with Ginnifer Goodwin.
In 2007, Renner starred as Wood Hite, the cousin of outlaw Jesse James (played by Brad Pitt), in the critically acclaimed film “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” and as Sergeant Doyle in the film “28 Weeks Later.”
Renner’s Career from 2009-2012
After appearing in the comedy-drama “Ingenious” alongside Dallas Roberts and the brief TV series “The Unusuals,” Renner went on to win praise for his portrayal of U.S. Army bomb disposal specialist Sergeant First Class William James in the 2009 Iraq war thriller “The Hurt Locker.” He received several accolades in the "Best Actor" category for the performance, as well as his first nomination for the "Best Actor" Academy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Renner received overwhelmingly positive reviews for his work in Ben Affleck's 2010 film “The Town,” which also starred Jon Hamm, Blake Lively, Slaine, and Michael Yebba. Renner was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, earning him his second nomination overall.
He was also nominated for a second Screen Actors Guild award and his first Golden Globe for best supporting actor. Renner is one of the young male actors who The Hollywood Reporter described as "pushing—or being pushed" to take over Hollywood as the new "A-List."
Renner introduced the public to his character for “The Avengers,” which was released in May 2012, by making an uncredited cameo appearance as Hawkeye in the 2011 film “Thor.” He also appeared in the fourth installment of the Bourne franchise, “The Bourne Legacy,” written and directed by Tony Gilroy that same year.
Jason Bourne, who was portrayed by Matt Damon in the first three movies, was replaced by Renner as Aaron Cross, the new main character. In the future, Renner has stated that he would like to work with Damon on a Bourne movie. “It would be kickass; I love Matt."
Renner’s Career from 2013 to Present
In the 2013 action-horror movie “Hansel & Gretel: The Witch Hunters," Jeremy Renner played Hansel and Gemma Arterton played Gretel. The ensemble cast of David O. Russell's dramedy “American Hustle,” which is based on the contentious FBI ABSCAM operation of the late 1970s and early 1980s, also included Renner. The movie received a lot of positive reviews, and it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
Based on Webb's book Dark Alliance, Renner portrayed journalist Gary Webb in the Focus Features film “Kill the Messenger” in October 2014. The movie was also co-produced by Renner. "The Throwaways," a movie for which Renner served as executive producer, was broadcast on Crackle in December 2014.
In “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the follow-up to “The Avengers,” Renner played Hawkeye once more in 2015. In the July 2015 film “Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation,” he returned to the Mission: Impossible series. Renner reprised his role as Hawkeye in the summer blockbuster movie “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016, and he co-starred with Amy Adams in the science fiction movie “Arrival.”
“The Founder,” a 2016 movie starring Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc, is one of Renner's productions. His production company, The Combine, agreed to a partnership with PalmStar Media in 2015. In 2016, Renner executive produced the historical drama “Knightfall.”
Renner suffered elbow and wrist fractures in 2017 while filming Tag (2018). Alongside his MCU co-star Elizabeth Olsen, he also made an appearance in Wind River. Renner acted in a few Avengers: Infinity War scenes as Hawkeye, but he did not end up in the movie. He wasn't able to play William Brandt in “Mission: Impossible—Fallout again” as a result of scheduling conflicts in 2018.
Twitch Williams will be portrayed by Jeremy Renner in Todd McFarlane's Spawn reboot, which was revealed in July 2018. He portrayed Hawkeye in a 2020 Disney+ series based on the character after having a starring role in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Renner played the title role in the 2021 season of the Paramount+ show “Mayor of Kingstown,” which was picked up for a second season in 2023.
FAQs
Q. Was Jeremy Renner a makeup artist?
A. Yes, in order to support himself, Jeremy Renner did work as a makeup artist.
Q. What is the net worth of Jeremy Renner?
A. The estimated net worth of Jeremy Renner is $80 million, as of 2023.
Q. In addition to acting, what else does Jeremy Renner do?
A. In addition to his work as an actor, Jeremy Renner is a musician who self-taught himself the guitar and drums. He is also a realtor and reportedly gets paid more as a realtor than as an actor, according to some reports.
