Jeremy Renner

“Architecture and building is about how you get around the obstacles that are presented to you. That sometimes determines how successful you'll be: How good are you at going around obstacles?”

“The movie business is very difficult but the music business is just impossible. So I'll play in bands and record and play songs with other people, but for me it's a form of expression that all I need is me. I don't need cameras or agents, I can just have a piano and sing and feel totally verified.”

“I was always a singer. But I was always focused on being an actor as my trade. Music I do just for me. The movie business is very difficult but the music business is just impossible.”

“People find themselves in ruts all the time. You're in a complacent lifestyle where you work 9 to 5 and then you add a mortgage and kids. You feel trapped, but guess what, brother? You constructed that life. If you're OK with it, there's nothing wrong with that. But if you've got unease, then you've got to make a change.”

“I don't change. The things around me change.”

“I'm blessed to have cool roles in these big movies.”

“The most experience I had in the criminology field is playing a thug as an actor. That was my first paid job. The police academy at the college was paying people to reenact the calls that potential cops would get. So I got to play thugs and people who were unruly.”

“I know it's a cliche but I never wanted to be famous. I don't believe anybody wants to be famous.”

“Fear is just not a part of my life - so much so that if it's involved in somebody else's life and they're close to me, I won't be around them.”

“I live my life through fear. If I'm afraid of it I'll do it just so I'm not afraid of it anymore.”

“I like repressed characters. That gives me a lot of freedom to make a lot of different choices through subtleties.”

“I only scream and scratch when something's only 'really good' or 'good', I want to be great, or let's go home.”

“In the 'Hurt Locker' there's a lot of me in there, a sense of humor, a man of few words and a lot of action.”

“What matters to me is learning and growing, and getting to do what I love to do. As long as I can do that, I'm happy.”

“There's too much down time making movies. That leads to boredom. And that leads to trouble.”

“I lived by the candlelight for two years because I couldn't afford power. It was nice and romantic at the time, but if you can't afford power you're pretty broke. You endure it.”