Jeremy Renner Turned Down A Role In Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Hellboy’
Before he was the one “useless” superhero in Marvel’sThe Avengers,Jeremy Rennercould have played another belittled character in another superhero movie. TheAvengers: Endgameactor revealed that he had turned down a major role inGuillermo del Toro’s firstHellboymovie, and that he has “zero regrets” over it. But no, it wasn’t Hellboy.
In an interview with fellow actor Justin Long on the"Life is Short"podcast (viaEntertainment Weekly), Renner revealed that he turned down a major role in 2004’sHellboy, which starredRon Perlmanas the title character. But Perlman wouldn’t have had to worry about Renner taking his job, despitewhat’s being widely reported. del Toro, who had longfought to cast Perlmanin the role that would finally give him a leading role,clarified thatRenner was up for the role of Agent John Myers, the B.P.R.D. agent that was ultimately played byRupert Evans.
Agent Myers was the human in-point to the fantastical world ofHellboy, an audience stand-in whose basic purpose was to react to the demons, fish men, and fire-controlling girls around him. The character of Agent Myers was originally positioned as a romantic competitor for Liz’s (Selma Blair) affections. But it was a role that Renner couldn’t connect with, despite there being “a lot of money” on the table, he said:
“I was just reading the script and [thinking] like, ‘I don’t get this…’ I just couldn’t connect to it. I said, ‘I can’t find a way in [to this character], I don’t know what I’d be doing,’ so I had to say no.”
Renner said that he had “zero regrets” on rejecting the role — and was actually on the money for doing so, as the role was so secondary to the plot that he ended up disappearing fromHellboy II: The Golden Armyaltogether. “Most of the time it’s like, ‘Oh, I’m glad I didn’t do it,’ and it made sense to me,” Renner added. “Not justHellboyor whatever it was, and I’m not saying that it’s a good or bad movie, it’s not about that. I just wouldn’t have fit there.”
In 2004, Renner was still stuck playing loose-cannon military characters, so it would have been a different take from Evans' more uptight take for sure. But perhaps he’s not wrong he wouldn’t have fit in — Renner’s roles have often been more grounded, gritty types, and he may not have gelled with del Toro’s lavish world. But it all worked out for Renner — he found a character he connected with in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Hawkeye and he didn’t have to take onyet another role that would be cutfrom a franchise.
