Okay, so there’s a little bit more to this Jeremy Renner Mission: Impossible story

Jeremy Renner is still open to returning to the Mission: Impossible franchise, but he had to protect his character

Aux News Mission: Impossible
Okay, so there’s a little bit more to this Jeremy Renner Mission: Impossible story
Tom Cruise and Jeremy Renner Photo: Dave Allocca/Starpix

Recently, Jeremy Renner said he would be happy to return to the Mission: Impossible franchise. He only left, Renner explained, because filming took too much time away and he wanted to be there for his kid. M:I was filming around the same time as his Marvel commitments, so it makes sense that Renner would have to give something up in order to achieve a better work-life balance. But the story doesn’t quite end there.

The production did try to bring Renner on for Mission: Impossible—Fallout. “I remember they tried to bring me over[seas] for a week so they could kill my character, and I was like, ‘No, you don’t get to do that. You’re not going to drag me over there and just kill my character,’ like, get out of here!” Renner says on a new episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast.“If you’re going to do this and you’re going to use my character, you’re going to do it right.”

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Director Christopher McQuarrie actually revealed as much to Empire magazine in 2018, saying he proposed a death scene to Renner who replied “Thanks but no thanks.” Now, Renner admits his response may not have been that polite: “I yelled at Chris,” he laughs. “Dude, you’re not going to do this to me like that. You’re not going to do me wrong.”

For his part, McQuarrie admitted Renner was “smart not to take the short paycheck for three days of work and getting blown up.” It means, of course, that the character of William Brandt is still alive and able to return to the IMF team in the future. Renner says the movies “are great fun to film, I enjoy it, I enjoy everybody on it.” He reiterates that “maybe, again like I said, because my daughter’s older, maybe there’s more of an opportunity to do something.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Renner brushes off rumors that he was supposed to take over as the lead of the franchise, while star Tom Cruise would become secretary of the IMF. “No, it was always Tom’s show,” Renner says. “That would be a Tom decision, if he ever wanted to change that narrative, right?” Renner speculates that maybe when things calm down Cruise might pass the baton, but observes that Cruise is “laying into his lane” as an action star and doing pretty well: “His franchises are billion dollar franchises!”

“The guy’s a beast, the guy works harder than anybody I know. He’s such an inspiration to me in so many ways,” Renner concludes. He also confirms that he does get Tom Cruise’s famous Christmas coconut cake. “It’s so good. It makes me believe in a lot of things. Makes me believe in love,” he laughs. “It’s so good.”

45 Comments

  • thepetemurray-darlingbasinauthorithy-av says:

    He also confirms that he does get Tom Cruise’s famous Christmas coconut cake. “It’s so good. It makes me believe in a lot of things.”Like Scientology? Careful, man. Coconut cake is how they slip the thetans into ya.

    • captaingeorgemcgillicuddy-av says:

      they gotta put em in to take em out

      • thepetemurray-darlingbasinauthorithy-av says:

        Exactly. It’s like breaking into a shop, then turning up the next day to sell ‘em an alarm system. Gotta create a demand.

      • nostalgic4thecta-av says:

        It’s like when door-to-door salesmen sell vacuum cleaners. Gotta spill a little dirt on the people’s rug so they can see how well it works. 

    • apocalypseplease-av says:

      Big Pastry is connected to Scientology. I knew it.

    • roger-dale-av says:

      They can be counteracted by farm equipment mishaps, so he’s safe.

  • hornacek37-av says:

    Remember when the Ghost Protocol trailer came out and there was all this talk that they were introducing Renner in that film to take over the franchise because there were rumors that Cruise wanted to leave the franchise, or just hand it off to someone else?

    • adamtrevorjackson-av says:

      felt like they were true at the time. 

      • captaingeorgemcgillicuddy-av says:

        it definitely felt true at the time, but Ghost Protocol was better than it had any right to be because of Brad Bird (and that Dubai tower sequence shot on imax that I saw in IMAX and fucking rocked) and reenergized it, and Cruise kept his mouth shut about having slaves work on his motorcycles. It’s too bad about Brad Bird’s weird supremacism thing, he really could have been the big big guy and he fumbled the bag, Tomorrowland sucked. I think bringing in Renner to take over wasn’t seen as being that insulting because, like with Tom Brady, people didn’t expect Cruise even could just keep making them for another 15 years. Plus they did Star Trek with Chris Pine, Jurassic with the worst Chris, and were trying to make new franchises with things like Man from UNCLE, having Renner either take over or do a spin-off seemed like not a bad idea. And I don’t dislike Renner, I think his best work is probably the Hawkeye TV show, but he didn’t bring a lot to Brandt (or, apparently, to Bourne). I keep meaning to watch Kill the Messenger that I have heard is interesting…part of the problem is that he was on that show “The IT Factor” on Bravo so I have trouble seeing him as anything other than a hollywood guy.In any case, I’m not dying to see him back in MI, but I hope he is physically able to do all of that again at all…what they really needed with Brandt was…a point of view?  Someone darker than Cruise’s boy scout, like Henry Czerny in The Sum of All Fears but a good guy.

        • adamtrevorjackson-av says:

          i think he’s better in american hustle or hurt locker, personally.

          • hcd4-av says:

            I never watched Hustle, but I remember liking him in Hurt Locker. He’s good in Wind River as well.I will say, rewatching Hurt Locker, he’s still good, but in hindsight I don’t see him as a franchise lead, but thats a fairly ill defined quality in my head anyway.

          • adamtrevorjackson-av says:

            he’s a weird choice for either bourne or mission impossible, if we’re being frank.i’d like to see him return because he didn’t seem to be playing his usual tortured soul type, more like a guy who’s annoyed at work, which i thought was a fun take.

          • captaingeorgemcgillicuddy-av says:

            and even then, the worst Chris was a franchise lead for Guardians and then blew it on Jurassic (and everything else)

          • roger-dale-av says:

            Agreed. An American Hustle that just focused on Bale and Renner would have been a much better film IMHO.

        • reallystrangepowers-av says:

          The scene in Rogue Nation with Alec Baldwin, Tom Hollander and Simon McBurney where they expose the origin of The Syndicate is a great showcase for Renner’s detached charm. “The prompt is ‘Kipling’” with a little flourish. Brilliant stuff.

    • rock-lionheart44-av says:

      Fortunately not taking over Mission Impossible allowed his to take over the Bourne franchise…oh wait

      • maximultra-av says:

        I remember hoping that Matt Damon’s last Bourne film, the incredibly dull “Jason Bourne,” would have featured the two of them, but alas…

    • sethsez-av says:

      I do remember that! Which is probably why the article (and the interview it’s skimming content from) also goes over it.

    • egerz-av says:

      I think it was a “do you think Mick Jagger is going to be doing this when he’s 40?” thing, where Cruise didn’t think audiences would accept him playing action roles in his 50s, so he hedged by casting Renner as a younger actor who could take on the heavy lifting in the franchise going forwards. But then it turned out audiences didn’t care and would keep paying to see Cruise as an action star into his 60s, so he never passed on the reins to Renner.

    • electricsheep198-av says:

      I remember them because they’re mentioned in this very article. lol

    • bobwworfington-av says:

      The kidz who only know him as Hawkeye might not remember, but with the one-two punch of The Hurt Locker and The Town, Renner was the hottest star going for a stretch there.

      Bourne, MI, MCU… he had it all. Then he tried that Hansel and Gretel thing and next thing you know, we’re in Prattville.

    • m-gojira-av says:

      It’s funny because we just had a Top Gun sequel where Tom Cruise appeared to pass the baton… to himself!I wouldn’t mind seeing a legacy sequel to The Color of Money with TC playing the Paul Newman position.

    • fezmonkey-av says:

      I don’t recall that from back then, but I did read all about in an article just recently so you’re asking at a good time for me. 

  • noturtles-av says:

    I like Renner, but he seems like a very optional part of the M:I franchise.

    • adamtrevorjackson-av says:

      at the same time it is funny they have to make room for 2 separate hacker characters. i noticed that in the last one – they have a hacker who sits down and a hacker who moves around.

      • spookypants-av says:

        But which one zooms in and which one enhances?

      • bahamut1987-av says:

        If they don’t have two hackers, how would they shoot the scene where they battle the bad guy’s hacker by having one guy type on the left side of the keyboard while the other guy types on the right side of the keyboard? Huh, smart guy? Riddle me that!

        • adamtrevorjackson-av says:

          i like the idea that certain movie scenes are somehow unavoidable and inevitable, but it comes down to whether or not you’ve come up with characters who can handle them or not.

    • unspeakableaxe-av says:

      He’s the optional part of most things. 

  • spookypants-av says:

    Does Cruise even make that cake or do L. Ron’s slaves do it for him?

  • necgray-av says:

    I don’t love when an actor claims to “own” a character but I get it. But this doesn’t even sound like he was being protective of a character as much as protective of an *image*. That’s fine but people have been framing it as he was protecting the character and… eh, was he?

  • yellowfoot-av says:

    “Renner speculates that maybe when things calm down Cruise might pass the
    baton, but observes that Cruise is “laying into his lane” as an action
    star and doing pretty well: “His franchises are billion dollar franchises!””Not for nothing Jez, but so are yours. Unless the Top Gun Cinematic Universe has 5+ billion dollar iterations, I’d say you’re at least holding your own in that arena.

    • jpfilmmaker-av says:

      That’s playing pretty fast and loose with ownership of franchises there. Cruise is virtually synonymous with Top Gun and Mission: Impossible. You could be forgiven if you forget that Renner even appears in most of the action movies he’s in.

  • simplepoopshoe-av says:

    In that header image it looks like Cruise borrowed Chris Hemsworth’s nose piece from Furiosa.

  • simplepoopshoe-av says:

    I just between watching Cruise basically attacking (Black woman) Oprah’s wrists on her couch and all the Scientology stuff I just can’t anymore with this guy and his bullshit coconut cakes. Dude is poison.

    • fezmonkey-av says:

      Welcome from 2005. You’re going to want to buy a bunch of toilet paper and a bunch of something called an “N95 mask” in about 13 years. Also if you’re into the stock maket Zoom is going to do pretty well around that time.

  • it-has-a-super-flavor--it-is-super-calming-av says:

    Cruise is “laying into his lane” as an action star and doing pretty well: “His franchises are billion dollar franchises!”

    Ah yes, I too look forward to the next installment of the Dark Universe.

  • izodonia-av says:

    I haven’t forgiven them from killing off Rebecca Ferguson’s character. Not only is she a great actress and a great character, they took the one person who was Hunt’s equal in every way and replaced her with a woman he has to save.(Also, I have a major crush on her).

    • indicatedpanic-av says:

      This shows just how little I remember of the plot of dead reckoning. She got killed off? I would have lost a round of bar trivia on that and been pissed about it. And I liked that movie, but now that I think about it, I can’t remember a damn thing about it

      • mythagoras-av says:

        ISTR she sacrifices her life in the Venice bridge fight against Ethan’s old nemesis. (He does the Tom Cruise run but he’s TOO LATE.)
        I also found it really weird how they build a whole act around a twist where she’s supposed to have died in the desert but then it turns out Ethan saved her and they faked her death, only to then kill her off for real a bit later. Like, how many times is Ilsa going to die in this movie?— Unless, I suppose, her second death was another ruse, and the first fakeout was foreshadowing. It wouldn’t make a lick of sense, but then again this is Mission: Impossible.

  • killa-k-av says:

    Not much more.

  • g-off-av says:

    He missed the window to be heir apparent. It is Hayley’s show now.

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