Jeremy Renner is, I think, the one actor who could possibly upset Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart (which seems like a done deal, but you never know with Oscar). Renner is not only in the film that has captured the attention of voters, The Hurt Locker, but is also one of the main reasons that film is so successful. What was unexpected with Renner’s nomination, though, was his reaction of complete and total surprise. Most of the contenders probably figured they were going to get in – even the ones who hadn’t been down that Oscar road before, like Mo’Nique (who was genuinely surprised and near tears when she was interviewed post-nominations), are so used to it that they have to try hard to act excited about it all. For Renner, it really is a dream come true, as are all of The Hurt Locker crew, like the Slumdog crew last year – they might be winning every award in site, but it still must feel like a surreal experience that this film came back from the brink and is doing so well at awards time.
Here is Renner and co-star Anthony Mackie (who really should have been nominated – if I have one major complaint, this would be it) on The Today Show after the nominations.
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Renner is a small town boy who grew up in Modesto. Many people think of California as being one big Malibu or San Francisco. But the majority of the state are small towns. The Modesto Bee and the other outlets in that area are so excited about Renner’s nomination, they had Renner’s mother and sister on to talk about it. Renner was apparently a shy kid, a computer nerd who wasn’t much into acting until later on.
Sorry, had to remove the Modesto Bee video.
All eyes will be on Renner at the Oscars, no doubt. A big show for a relatively unknown star (he was great in Dahmer):
About 20 minutes after the nominations, Renner called his mother and asked her to be his date to the Oscars ceremony March 7. She accepted while joking about hitting the gym every day before her walk down the red carpet.