Jeremy Renner

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.

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.

In the ‘Hurt Locker’ there’s a lot of me in there, a sense of humor, a man of few words and a lot of action.

I need to react to a script, to feel strongly about it in some way. And I need it to be a complex character for sure. And also, I think a lot about what kind of audience there is for the film, what they’re looking for and ways to connect with them in the playing of a character.

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

I think cinema should provoke thoughts, sure, but using it as I soapbox I think is the wrong place.

I do music because I can just pick up my guitar and sing, and completely satisfy, instant gratification. I don’t need a script, I don’t people, I don’t need anything, cameras, I just have myself and my guitar, or keyboard.

Music I do just for me.

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

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.