Ben Affleck on Jeremy Renner

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 ‚Äî 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.