A notable career
1971 – Renner is born in Modesto, California, to mother Valerie Cearley and father Lee Renner, who managed a bowling alley. He is the oldest of seven siblings.
1995 – Makes his inauspicious big screen debut gave little indication of the heights he would later rise to. National Lampoon's Senior Trip was critically panned and bombed at the box office. Renner's role as slacker student Mark 'Dags' D'Agastino did at least lead to a few TV roles over the next few years though.
2002 – Makes his first major critical success, playing the titular serial killer in David Jacobson's Dahmer. Renner admitted after filming that he had found playing Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed and dismembered at least 17 people during a 13-year reign of terror in Milwaukee, emotionally draining, but he at least picked up an Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.
2005 – Confirms himself as a festival favourite with his role as a mentally ill neo-nazi skinhead in Van Fischer's unlikely romance Neo Ned. Renner landed Best Actor at the Palm Beach Festival for this one.
2009 – Takes his career to an award-winning level in The Hurt Locker. Renner is nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars and picks up a Screen Actor's Guild nomination alongside another 42 nominations.
2010 – The Hollywood Reporter names Renner one of the new actors who are pushing to be Hollywood's "new A-list". The next few years would see him land major roles in super hero blockbusters (Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2011) and big budget action flicks (Bourne replacement Aaron Cross in 2012's Bourne Legacy and Tom Cruise's new sidekick in the Mission: Impossible franchise from 2011), while still remaining true to his festival roots with roles in films like David O Russell's multi-award winning 2013 drama American Hustle.
