Arts & Entertainment
Jeremy Renner: The ‘Kill the Messenger’ Interview
J
eremy Renner starred in
The Hurt Locker, which
won a half-dozen Acad-
emy Awards, including Best
Picture and Best Director
(Kathryn Bigelow). For his
portrayal of Sgt. William
James, he received many
accolades, including his
first Academy Award nomi-
nation, in the Best Actor
category.
The following year, he
was again an Academy
Award nominee, this time as
Best Supporting Actor for
his performance as James
Coughlin in The Town,
directed by Ben Affleck.
Moviegoers worldwide also
know him for his starring
roles as Hawkeye in The
Avengers, as William
Brandt in Mission: Impossi-
ble: Ghost Protocol, and as
Aaron Cross in The Bourne
Legacy.
Jeremy’s breakthrough
movie role was as Jeffrey
Dahmer in Dahmer. And his
other films include Ameri-
can Hustle; The Immigrant;
Hansel & Gretel: Witch
Hunters; The Assassination
of Jesse James
by the Coward
Robert Ford; 28
Weeks Later;
Take;
North
C o u n t r y ;
S.W.A.T.; and
Neo Ned.
Here, he talks
about his new
film, Kill the
Messenger,
directed by Michael Cuesta.
The two previously collabo-
rated on 12 and Holding
which was nominated for
the Independent Spirit
Awards’ John Cassavetes
Award.
Kam Williams: Hi Jere-
my. I’m honored to have
this opportunity to speak
with you.
Jeremy Renner: Thank
you, Kam. My pleasure.
KW: I told my readers I’d
be interviewing you, so I’ll
be mixing in my questions
with theirs.
JR: Okay, great!
C ELEBRITY
I NTERVIEW
by Kam
Williams
says: Oh my God! Oh my
God! You made a movie
about Gary Webb. Thank
you. Wow! You are ripping
my heart out right now. I am
not going to cry. I just forgot
what the heck I was sup-
posed to be doing today.
Jeez! I’m giving myself per-
mission to cry a little.
Jeremy, to me, this is one of
the most important stories
of the Modern Age. And the
way Gary’s life was system-
atically destroyed—not just
by the CIA but by the news-
papers that mindlessly
colluded with them—makes
me weep for all time. His
book, “Dark Alliance,” is
one of my most treasured
possessions. She asks: Mr.
KW: Editor Lisa Loving
Jeremy Renner as Gary webb, Michael K. williams as “Freeway” Ricky Ross
and Tim Blake Nelson as Alan Fenster in ‘Kill the Messenger.’
Renner, did either your role
in Kill the Messenger or
The Hurt Locker change the
way you regard the world or
our nation?
I love to watch an Everyman
rise to the occasion under
extraordinary circumstances
JR: Yeah, but not in a
political sense. Just five
minutes ago, I was talking
to someone else about The
Hurt Locker’s not being a
political movie, whereas it
could have quite easily been
spun into one very heavy-
handedly.
Kill
the
Messenger is a little more
obviously a political pic-
ture, but I didn’t really want
politics to weigh-in on that,
even though I might have
my opinion and thoughts
about it. I think politics and
religion are personal belief
systems that have nothing to
do with anybody else.
That’s where I stand. And I
don’t like to make movies
that try to force people to
change their opinions. How-
ever, while the backdrop of
Kill the Messenger involved
politics and journalism,
what was important to me
was the underdog story. I
Page 8 The Portland and Seattle Skanner October 8, 2014
love to watch an Everyman
rise to the occasion under
extraordinary
circum-
stances, like in David and
Goliath. I think that univer-
sal theme resonates with
almost anyone, since most
people are trying to do the
best they can. Like The
American way. I pride
myself in sort of represent-
ing that, as an actor,
especially with Gary Webb
coming from the same area
as I. It was a tragic situation
all the way around, and a
big story that’s impossible
to tell in two hours, which is
why we focused more on
Gary Webb personally.
KW: Lisa also asks: What
did you learn by immersing
yourself in Gary’s life
story?
JR: I’d always been on
the other side of journalism,
just being asked questions.
This afforded me a chance
to learn a lot about newspa-
pers, satellite stations, and
the work of an investigative
reporter, and how they get a
story. But what I still really
enjoyed the most was learn-
ing about Gary Webb’s
personal life as a father and
husband, as well as a jour-
nalist.
KW: Lisa’s last question
is: Do you think Gary com-
mitted suicide, or do you
think he was killed by the
CIA?
JR: I have an opinion
about it, but I don’t care to
address that on the record.
I’ll let the movie speak for
itself. What matters more to
me is what other people
think.
KW: David Roth thinks
that since you’re one of the
producers, you must feel
pretty passionate about this
project. He asks: Why do
you think this story took a
back seat to the Monica
Lewinsky scandal?
JR: [LOL] The Monica
Lewinsky story… [Laughs
some more] and I do say
this laughing… is just more
entertaining to follow. Dark
Alliance was talking about
the CIA connection to
cocaine and crack as
opposed to blow jobs,
See RENNER
on page 12