As we just outlined, Jeremy Renner is past the road to recovery despite a life-threatening freak accident in early 2023 that nearly killed him. Just over a year later, Renner was back at it, filming season three of the Taylor Sheridan crime series, “Mayor Of Kingtown,” which debuted this past Sunday at Paramount+. Renner’s been out there doing press for the film, obviously talking about his harrowing accident, his brush with death, his recovery, and more.
The actor was on the Happy Sad Confused podcast to discuss “Mayor Of Kingstown” and all things Renner and his career. During the conversation, which spanned myriad elements of his career, Renner admitted that Christopher McQuarrie and the filmmakers of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ series asked him to come shoot for a week on ‘Fallout’ to kill off his character, but essentially he said, ‘f*ck that,’ and refused.
However, there are many more compelling stories in the podcast, including the fact that Renner says he was in the final three casting mixes for George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” a role that obviously went to Tom Hardy in the end.
Renner seemed content to talk about it, but it didn’t seem like he had any sour grapes about it at all. When asked when the last time he had to audition for a film was, Renner revealed it was for ‘Fury Road,’ which apparently had intense security protocols.
“I think the last time [I had to audition for anything] was ‘Mad Max,’” he admitted. “It was a whole different experience [than most auditions]. You had to have someone watch you go through the comic and read the script, and then you leave it behind, you have to sign your life away, and this whole thing, security guards, it’s like, ‘what?’ It’s the weirdest thing.”
Renner said he did a screentest with Zoe Kravitz as part of the next part of his audition. “I might have done it with another [actress] as well, just kind of mix and matching of screen testing, and then there was Hardy and one other [actor].”
Apparently, the 2022 making-of ‘Fury Road book detailed that Armie Hammer was the third actor in the mix, something the host explained to Renner that he didn’t seem to know. “It was a whole different kind of thing,” Renner explained, about not trying to do Mel Gibson and taking it all in a new direction.
That’s all Renner said, the conversation shifting to how he approached auditions (“Truth as my guide,” he explained). But still, it’s fascinating to think. Obviously, Tom Hardy as Mad Max is now iconic, whether or not he ever returns to the role. But it’s intriguing to think of the idea of Jeremy Renner alongside Charlize Theron or even Armie Hammer at that. It’s a fascinating conversation; you can watch the entire thing below.
