When Jeremy Renner left the Mission: Impossible series, he said he chose family over career.
His character, IMF agent William Brandt, first appeared in the fourth installment of the spy film series, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in 2011. He reprised the role in the fifth film, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation in 2015. He has not appeared in any subsequent films, and has now explained that he left the series to be with his daughter.
“I had to leave it.” Renner He told Collider Speaking in a new interview, he said: “I needed a lot of time away from home. I was working all the time in London. I had to become a father. It just didn’t work out at the time.”
Jeremy Renner ‘kind of thrilled’ after death after snowplow accident
Jeremy Renner has revealed that he is leaving the Mission: Impossible series to focus on being a father. (Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images)
Renner has 11-year-old daughter Ava with ex-wife Sonny Pacheco. The former couple were married from 2013 to 2014.
The series debuted in 1996 with Mission: Impossible, and Tom Cruise has starred and produced all six films.
Renner said he wanted to continue with the franchise, but his responsibilities as a parent took priority.
“I should have done more with them,” he said. “I love them so much. I really love Tom. It was a lot of fun and I love the characters so much.”
The actor has an 11-year-old daughter, Ava, with ex-wife Sonny Pacheco. (Rodan Eckenroth/FilmMagic)
The two-time Oscar nominee also revealed that he may return to Mission: Impossible in the future.
“Maybe now that my daughter’s older,” he says, “I’d always jump back into Mission: Impossible and go back to Blunt. It’d be awesome.”
Since Renner’s departure, the franchise has released 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout and 2023’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part 1. The untitled eighth film in the series is scheduled for release in May 2025 after being delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic and the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Renner’s dilemma about leaving the series isn’t the only time he’s struggled between starring in a major film franchise and being by Ava’s side.
In 2021, Renner told Men’s Health magazine that he was ready to step down from his role as Clint Barton/Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe because his hectic filming schedule had made it too difficult to see his daughter.
Jeremy Renner, left, co-starred with Tom Cruise in two of the films in this series. (Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)
Renner recalled that for a year and a half, he flew from London to Los Angeles every weekend, leaving him with only a few hours to visit Ava.
The Hurt Locker star ultimately came to the conclusion that he needed to give Marvel executives an ultimatum.
“I learned how to have the guts to say, ‘Guys, get out. This is time for me to spend time with my daughter,'” he said.
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Renner recalled that his aides warned him he might be fired from the MCU, but he stuck to his guns.
“I said, ‘OK, give me another role. I’m here with my daughter.’ It was pretty tough,” he told the outlet.
Jeremy Renner nearly left the Avengers series because his filming schedule made it difficult to spend time with Ava. (Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Ultimately, the actor and Marvel came to an agreement that saw Renner retain his role as Hawkeye, and from now on, he’ll be able to visit Eva, or have her visit him, every weekend while the project is filming.
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“I forgot about acting and everything else,” Renner says, “until my daughter said, ‘I want to hang out with my friends, I don’t want to hang out with you as much.'”
Renner returned to work earlier this year after being seriously injured in a near-fatal snowplow accident in January 2023.
On New Year’s Day 2023, Renner was hit by his own snowcat while trying to tow a car buried in snow near his home in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and was taken to the hospital by helicopter with 30 broken bones, blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries.
Jeremy Renner returned to work in January after being seriously injured in a snowplow accident. (Instagram: Jeremy Renner)
Renner resumed filming on the Paramount+ series The Mayor of Kingstown in January after a year of recuperation.
On Ava’s birthday in March, Renner thanked her daughter for helping her through her recovery.
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“Happy 10th birthday!!!! So proud of you in every way. I can’t believe your hugs and love have helped me heal so quickly,” he wrote alongside a photo of himself with Ava that he shared to his Instagram Story.
“I stand up for you, and I’m stronger because of you,” Renner continued. “I’m your father, I’m your protector, and I belong only to you. I love you, Dad.”
