Renner praises action, bemoans time away to shoot new ‘Mission: Impossible’

Modesto-born-and-bred actor Jeremy Renner returns to his agent-turned-analyst (turned-back-to-agent) character William Brandt for the latest “Mission: Impossible” movie.

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” opening Friday, reteams the 44-year-old actor with series star Tom Cruise and cohorts Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg.

Action is, of course, nothing new to Renner. Before starring in the 2011 film “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” Renner appeared in the actions films “S.W.A.T.” with Colin Farrell and the zombie apocalypse sequel “28 Weeks Later.”

Since then he has starred in a string of other big-budget action franchises from “Mission: Impossible” to the Jason Bourne series and two “Avengers” films.

Earlier this spring Renner told The Modesto Bee that returning to the Impossible Mission Force ranks was a “fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants” shooting experience. The film also adds veteran actor Alec Baldwin to the mix.

“The action is just tremendous,” Renner said. “I’m pretty confident that thing will be a pretty rocking movie, with the track record this has had.”

Earlier this month, Renner screened the film and tweeted: “WHAT A RIDE” about the action-packed fifth installment of the secret agent series.

Since wrapping up his “Mission: Impossible” work, Renner has remained busy filming and producing. In May he was on the set of “Captain America: Civil War,” the latest installment of the Marvel Universe superhero franchise, to reprise his role as Hawkeye. Then, in June, Renner was off to Montreal to shoot the post-alien invasion sci-fi film “Story of Your Life” with Amy Adams.

There also continues to be talk of Renner returning to the Bourne world. In 2012, he expanded the series as new operative Aaron Cross in “The Bourne Legacy.” Currently a new film with original series star Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass is in the works.

Still, Renner has gone on record frequently, most recently in a June interview with Playboy magazine, saying that it is getting harder and harder for him to commit to the big-budget, long-distance blockbusters like “Mission: Impossible” and “Avengers” because it takes him away from his 2-year-old daughter, Ava Berlin.

“The ultimate challenge and difficulty on that movie and ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ was that they both shot in London, which took me 11 hours away from Ava. That was what caused any cantankerousness, agitation or negative feelings I had about the whole moviemaking experience. All I worried about once I landed in London was, ‘When do I get to see my little munchkin next?’” he told the magazine.

“I see anything that takes me away from my daughter, whether it’s something good like making ‘Mission: Impossible’ 5 or something bad like my divorce, as a distraction and an obstacle. Now, if anything takes me away and I don’t get to see her, I just won’t do it. I don’t care what you pay me. All my energy goes toward her and her well-being. We split the time with Ava equally now. When it’s Daddy and Ava time, that’s all I do.”

This story was originally published July 28, 2015 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Renner praises action, bemoans time away to shoot new ‘Mission: Impossible’."