Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the actor — who was fighting for his life last year after being crushed by a snowplough — revealed while he was asked to return as IMF agent William Brandt in 2018, he did not want to.
Recalling the conversation he had with the film’s director, Christopher McQuarrie, before the 2018 sequel, Fallout, Renner said they “tried” to sway him to travel overseas for filming for one week “so they could kill my character”.
“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’. If you’re going to do this and you’re going to use my character, you’re going to do it right.”
Admitting he “yelled” at McQuarrie, Renner laughed as he said he told him, “Dude, you’re not going to do this to me like that; you’re not going to do me wrong.”
Despite the director’s attempt to kill off Renner’s character, Brandt’s story ended with his decision to retire from his career in the force. With the character still alive and well in the Mission: Impossible universe, it means there is potential for Renner to reprise the agent — something he says he would be open to.
“I love those guys. I love Tom so much. We had so much fun, and I love that character a lot. It requires a lot of time away. It’s all in London. I had to go be a dad. It just wasn’t gonna work out then. Maybe now that my daughter is older that could happen. I’d always jump into a Mission: Impossible anytime and back into Brandt. It’s great.”
Jeremy Renner says he would be willing to reprise his role for another Mission: Impossible film.
While appearing on the podcast, the actor also revealed the truth about rumours he was to take over the Mission: Impossible franchise from Cruise.
“No, it was always Tom’s show, that would be a Tom decision, if he ever wanted to change that narrative,” Renner said.
The star continued to say Cruise is “maturing” as an actor and appears to be holding on to his status in the industry, “the guy’s a beast and works harder than anyone I know”.
Renner recently opened up about his return to work following his near-death accident last year.
The Marvel star was receiving around-the-clock medical care in an intensive care unit. While he overcame 38 broken bones, a collapsed lung and significant blunt chest trauma, the star says it wasn’t only his personal life the accident had an impact on.
Jeremy Renner suffered 38 broken bones and a collapsed lung after being run over by a snowplough in January last year. Photo / ABC
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, the 53-year-old star opened up about how the accident also changed his approach to acting, particularly while filming the third season of Mayor of Kingstown, in which he plays a power broker in a fictional Michigan city.
Confessing his on-set physical abilities are restricted now, he said it had resulted in cast and crew treating him differently. “They have to treat me like I’m a child actor,” he told the news outlet. “The mayor of Kingstown is now like a 14-year-old.”
The star said his return to work was made easier with the help of the crew, who were quick to make changes to accommodate his new reality — including adapting the shooting schedule times and factoring in breaks for the star to stretch.
