Actor Jeremy Renner has been chosen as the 2010 Distinguished Alumnus for Modesto Junior College and will be honored at the Commencement Ceremony on Friday, April 30 at 6 p.m. in the MJC Stadium. As MJC’s Distinguished Alumnus, Renner will be presented with a plaque and have his name added to the perpetual plaque that is displayed in Founders Hall on East Campus.
Renner starred in the 2010 Academy Award Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker and was nominated for Best Actor by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for this role. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film received six academy awards and was inspired by true events about a team in present-day Baghdad that regularly deals with bomb disposal under the constant danger of sniper fire. In his role as the self-assured Sgt. James, Renner was awarded the Breakthrough Actor Award at the Hollywood Film Festival, the Spotlight Award at the Savannah Film Festival and was nominated as Best Actor at the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards, as well as garnering a nominations for Breakthrough Actor and for Best Ensemble Performance at the Gotham Awards.
Renner was born in Modesto, the eldest of five children, to Valerie Cearley and Lee Renner. He graduated from Fred C. Beyer High School and attended Modesto Junior College. Renner discovered his love for acting while drifting through various majors at MJC. He dabbled in computer science and criminology before taking an acting class, and soon decided to double major in theater and psychology. Renner starred in a handful of MJC productions, including the dramas Orphans and Sister Gloria's Pentecostal Baby and the musical The Wizard of Oz.
“His joy, energy and kindness marked him as one of the best acting students to work on our stages here,” said Michael Sundquist, Dean of Arts Humanities and Communications. “He has always spoken highly of his experience as a student here.”
Renner returned to MJC on August 23, 2008, to celebrate the grand re-opening of the college’s newly renovated and expanded Performing and Media Arts Center, and participated in an on stage interview during that event.
Renner next stars in The Town, a film directed by Ben Affleck for Warner Bros. The film is an adaptation of the Chuck Hogan novel Prince of Thieves and centers on a thief (Affleck) and his best friend and member of his gang (Renner). It is scheduled for release in the fall of 2010.
Renner was seen in three different features in 2007. Renner starred alongside Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, playing Wood Hide, a key member of Jesse James’ gang in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford for Warner Bros. and directed by Andrew Dominik. His other two films that year were 28 Weeks Later, the highly anticipated sequel to 28 Days Later, and Take, opposite Minnie Driver.
Renner has been on a fast-paced production schedule the past few years. He has been seen in A Little Trip to Heaven, where he again refined his skill for dark, troubled characters. Starring opposite Julia Stiles, Renner’s diabolical con man ‘Kelvin’ breaks out of prison to find his partner-in-crime/lover ‘Isold’ (Stiles) murdering her current lover, and faking his own death he convinces her to join him in a new scheme. He also acted in The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, directed by Asia Argento as adapted from the critically acclaimed novel by J.T. Leroy; Columbia Pictures’ Lords of Dogtown for director Catherine Hardwicke; and Aura Entertainment’s independent film Love Comes to the Executioner, written and directed by Kyle Bergersen. He was seen in the summer 2003 hit S.W.A.T. opposite Colin Farrell and Samuel L. Jackson.
In 2006, Renner also starred in the acclaimed independent film 12 and Holding (Independent Spirit Award Nominee – John Cassavetes Award) demonstrating his dramatic range playing ‘Gus,’ a firefighter who moves to a new town after the haunting loss of a young girl in a fire and who finds a way to heal himself by helping a young girl in his new town cope with her own loss and grief.
Other recent film credits include the independent film Neo Ned, in which he starred opposite Gabrielle Union. Neo Ned was screened at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival and swept the feature film category at the 11th Annual Palm Beach International Film Festival in 2006. Neo Ned was awarded Best Feature Film and Best Director, and Best Actor went to Renner. The film was also awarded the Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking Best Feature Film Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival in April 2006. These awards come after winning the Audience Award at the Slamdance, Sarasota and Ashland film festivals.
In Warner Bros.’ North Country Renner starred opposite Academy Award winner Charlize Theron. A fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the U.S., Renner is at the center of the unfolding drama as ‘Bobby Sharp.’ Working with ‘Josie Aimes’ (Theron) at the mine in their hometown, ‘Bobby’ often clashes with the single mother over his view that women shouldn’t work in such a demanding environment. Their disagreements drive the drama, leading ‘Josie’ to file a class action lawsuit against the company.
The one role that put Renner on the map and that earned the actor an Independent Spirit Award nomination was his role as ‘Jeffrey Dahmer’ in the indie hit Dahmer.
Between film and theater, he finds the time to write, record, and perform his own music brand of contemporary rock. Renner has written songs for Warner Chapel Publishing and Universal Publishing.
Modesto Junior College congratulates Renner on his many acting accomplishments and extends a sincere thank you to him for his contributions to the film and entertainment industries. The MJC Foundation is proud to honor him as the Distinguished Alumnus for 2010.
For more information on the MJC Distinguished Alumni Awards, to join the MJC Alumni Association or to make a contribution to the MJC Foundation contact their office at (209) 575-6068.
