Jeremy Renner rejected new Hawkeye series over pay cut: ‘Am I only half the Jeremy?’

The first season of the Marvel series was released in 2021

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Jeremy Renner said he turned down a second season of the Marvel series Hawkeye after being offered “half” his original salary.

The 54-year-old actor starred as his Avengers character Clint “Hawkeye” Barton in the first season of the show, which aired in 2021.

On New Year’s Day 2023 he was involved in a serious accident while helping clear snow from the driveways of his neighbors. He was crushed by his large, seven-ton snow plow before being airlifted to hospital where he was treated for severe injuries, including a collapsed lung and more than 30 broken bones.

Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Renner said of Hawkeye: “They asked me to do Season 2, and they offered me half the money. I’m like, ‘Well, it’s going to take me twice the amount of work for half the amount of money, and eight months of my time, essentially, to do it for half the amount.’”

He added, “I’m like, ‘I’m sorry? Why? Did you think I’m only half the Jeremy because I got ran over? Maybe that’s why you want to pay me half of what I made on the first season?’”

This is “not Marvel, mind you. This is like, just Disney, not even really Disney. It’s just the penny pinchers, the accountants. I told them to go fly a kite. I mean, just at the insult offer. So we didn’t see eye-to-eye on it.”

Jeremy Renner photographed at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia in December 2024 (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival)

Renner went on to say that he would still be open to returning to the character in the future, adding: “I still love the character. I’d still love to do it, but I had to defend myself. I didn’t ask for any more money, mind you. Just pay me what I made made the first season!”

So “it’s a little disheartening that that didn’t happen, but that’s fine. I’m happy to let that go, because my body’s probably thanking me, time and time again, that I’m not doing it right now. But we’ll see,” he added, referring to the strength it has taken him to just get through daily life after his devastating injuries.

Last year, Renner said he was “very terrified” about his return to acting after the accident, particularly when it came to playing characters very distinct from his own personality.

“I just don’t have the energy for it,” said Renner. “I don’t have the fuel. I have so much fuel to put into this reality, this body, all this stuff. I can’t just go play make-believe right now. Because [it] takes a lot of time to get right here every day just so I can have a positive thought, so I can progress, so I can always keep growing.”

Because “I’m to do, like, f***ing fiction? I’m still trying to live in reality, I’m trying to live. So it was a hard line for me to cross,” he added. “It was a big stretch. It was very, very challenging for me mentally to get over that hump.”

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