Jeremy Renner's Quotes

I lived by the candlelight for two years because I couldn't afford power. It was nice and romantic at the time, but if you can't afford power you're pretty broke. You endure it.

I think cinema should provoke thoughts, sure, but using it as I soapbox I think is the wrong place. I never want to be part of something like that, where there's an agenda there that's not about telling a story, where its someone getting on a soapbox and preaching their own beliefs onto somebody.

I was always a singer. But I was always focused on being an actor as my trade. Music I do just for me. The movie business is very difficult but the music business is just impossible.

I was very shy when I was younger. But I did have a terrible temperament. I would get angry very quickly, but the rest of the time I was this big goofball, playing the drums in a band and making out with girls.

I'm consciously aware, specifically with the comic book world, where there's a built-in fanbase. But, there's a little bit of leniency because there are a couple different universes.

The most experience I had in the criminology field is playing a thug as an actor. That was my first paid job. The police academy at the college was paying people to reenact the calls that potential cops would get. So I got to play thugs and people who were unruly.

The movie business is very difficult but the music business is just impossible. So I'll play in bands and record and play songs with other people, but for me it's a form of expression that all I need is me. I don't need cameras or agents, I can just have a piano and sing and feel totally verified.

There is nothing new, from Greek mythology to Shakespeare to every romcom ever made, we're just reimagining the same 12 story plots over and over again - so what makes people keep watching and listening? It's all about the character.

They don't allow you to go any further unless you can do this bomb suit training, because it puts such a mental strain on your spirit. It dumbs you down about 25 to 30 IQ points. You start to hallucinate in the heat inside the suit after 20-30 minutes. So you try not to stay in it too dang long. So the preparation for that - it's either you have it, or you do not.

I like to stay busy, I like to stay focused, and I like to stay creative. Without being creative I'd be dead.

People find themselves in ruts all the time. You're in a complacent lifestyle where you work 9 to 5 and then you add a mortgage and kids. You feel trapped, but guess what, brother? You constructed that life. If you're OK with it, there's nothing wrong with that. But if you've got unease, then you've got to make a change.

I'm a simple, simple man.

When I was growing up, I wasn't taught how to feel or communicate feelings.

I have a bad sweet tooth. I'm pretty good when I have to eat well for work, but otherwise, I could eat a whole roll of raw cookie dough.

I know it's a cliche but I never wanted to be famous. I don't believe anybody wants to be famous.

I like repressed characters. That gives me a lot of freedom to make a lot of different choices through subtleties.

I used to hang out at karaoke bars all the time. It was the most fun you could have when you had no money.

Architecture and building is about how you get around the obstacles that are presented to you. That sometimes determines how successful you'll be: How good are you at going around obstacles?

Accents can be a great tool to tell a story - but if you do it wrong, it pulls you right out of the movie.

Fear is just not a part of my life - so much so that if it's involved in somebody else's life and they're close to me, I won't be around them.

Not every actor gives their life to do this job. Some just do it as a job. Well, it's my life.

You have to wait for a big star to come in and generate interest on a project, and now that has become me, which is an amazing blessing.

I don't change. The things around me change.

I don't really think there's much difference between a character actor and a leading man besides aesthetics.

I don't want to play a bad guy who doesn't have a bit of good in him.

I feel connected to that idea of wanting to belong to something, to have a sense of purpose as a man on the planet.

I guess I just have one of those resting faces that makes me look like I want to beat you up.

I know what I like and what I want, and I can sit and enjoy every 10 minutes that go by. And truly enjoy it.

I like to play unpredictable characters, and I like to be unpredictable in what movie I'll do.

I live my life through fear. If I'm afraid of it I'll do it just so I'm not afraid of it anymore.

I love my small town, and I love going back there and supporting the community. But I could not have stayed there. No way.

I only scream and scratch when something's only 'really good' or 'good', I want to be great, or let's go home.

I think it's great to be a part of a franchise that is successful. Any franchise is successful because it's a continuation and people have seen it.

I like the idea that I can talk to any teenage girls. You know, in a language that makes sense to them.

I'm a real Luddite.

I think 'growing up' would mean that you are incredibly tolerant and easygoing, liked everything, curious about the world because you weren't so egotistically driven.