From the Vaults: Jeremy Renner

The last few years have been good to Jeremy Renner. Currently starring as Aaron Cross in The Bourne Legacy, the fourth installment of the popular spy series, Renner is finally in the catbird seat as the result of some recent, high-profile acting gigs. The dynamic actor has even reported for co-star duty in a couple of blockbusters.

In Marvel's The Avengers (and Thor, Jeremy Renner debuted as the superhero Hawkeye. And in 2011, Renner co-starred with Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. These roles were prestigious follow-ups to his previous career highs in 2008 and 2010, wherein he respectively earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Katheryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker and a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Ben Affleck's The Town.

But it was Renner's starring turn in 2002 as the titular serial killer in Dahmer that earned the high-powered actor his first wide notice. Though the subject matter was gruesome, his acting was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Generally forceful and magnetic as an actor, Renner's performance is described by Chronicle film critic, Marc Savlov, in his review as "remarkable for its understatement." Instead of a "true-crime hell-jaunt," Savlov continues, the film is "experimental in its storytelling," forsaking "the gory traditions of the lunatic genre in favor of dead-eyed menace and twisty familial flashbacks." Even playing cannibalistic maniac, Renner's ability to carry a movie lead is plainly evident.