The only Jeremy Renner movie Jeremy Renner refuses to watch: “Usually I’ll watch something once”
Jeremy Renner is an insanely watchable actor. He’s rarely the standout in whatever he’s in, but he has a certain reassuring screen presence that makes him perfect for supporting roles in franchises like ‘Mission: Impossible’ and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even in more ‘serious’ movies like Arrival or The Town, he’s not the main attraction, but certainly brings something to the project.
Unfortunately, there is one film role that the actor himself simply cannot watch himself do again. It comes from his early days, when he was establishing himself in independent films like S.W.A.T and Neo Ned. In 2002, he played the titular serial killer in David Jacobson’s Dahmer, and it had an effect on him that he still couldn’t shake years after the fact.
“I only saw half of that movie, and that’s it,” he told Film Ink. “Usually, I’ll watch something once,” he explained, saying that he felt like he had to watch his own performances back so he could adequately answer questions about them in interviews. “There was only one movie that I did that I didn’t see at least once. And that was Dahmer.”
Jeffrey Dahmer was a man who, between 1978 and 1991, murdered 17 people, all of them men or young boys. He would lure his victims to his home under the pretence of drinking or sex, then kill and dismember them. Evidence of cannibalism and necrophilia were also discovered in several of his murders. Renner played the sadistic killer in this low budget picture. Although it only received a limited theatrical attention, it gained considerable attention and helped kickstart the young actor’s career.
He took the role despite knowing very little about the history behind it. “I didn’t even know who Jeffrey Dahmer was,” he told Interview Magazine. “Four days later after reading the script we’re shooting principal photography, and two weeks later we’re done. It was such a whirlwind.” Getting inside the head of someone who was able to commit such heinous acts isn’t an easy task, as Renner relayed. “I had to do a lot of work and allow myself to go places that were a little scary,” he confessed. “You know when you play a guy like that it allows you the freedom to explore really weird parts about you. And it’s ok. In order to really get it, I’ve got to allow myself to go there.”
The nature of Dahmer’s crimes, specifically how he would use romance as a cover for his true intentions, had a profound effect on Renner after the shooting ended. “After I did the film, playing a guy who was basically a monster, things started getting creepy,” he told Parade. “My cat was stolen. Then some girl bit me in a bar because I wasn’t paying attention to her anymore and I had to go to the hospital. It kept me single for a while, that’s for sure. Lot of people I wanted to date, but people I probably shouldn’t date.”
Since Renner’s interpretation of him, a number of other movies and TV shows about Dahmer have come out. Raising Jeffrey Dahmer from 2007 focused on his parents and their reaction to the crimes, whilst 2017’s My Friend Dahmer was inspired by the memoirs of someone who knew him before his first murder. Evan Peters played the character in Netflix’s ten-part series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Nobody knows if Renner had the courage to give that a watch.
