2009–2013: Critical and commercial breakout
After starring in the comedy-drama Ingenious and the short-lived television series The Unusuals, Renner portrayed U.S. Army bomb disposal expert Sergeant First Class William James in the 2009 Iraq War thriller The Hurt Locker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow. The role earned him several Best Actor awards and his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor as well a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.
In 2010, Renner's performance in Ben Affleck's The Town, alongside Jon Hamm and Blake Lively, received extremely positive reviews and earned him his second Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. He also gained his first Golden Globe nomination in the same category and his second Screen Actors Guild nomination. The Hollywood Reporter named Renner as one of the young male actors who are "pushing – or being pushed" into taking over Hollywood as the new "A-List".
In 2011, Renner starred as William Brandt in the fourth Mission: Impossible film, Ghost Protocol, and made his screen introduction as Hawkeye in an uncredited cameo appearance in Marvel Studios' Thor, teasing his starring role in The Avengers, released in May 2012. The same year, he also starred in the fourth film in the Bourne franchise, The Bourne Legacy, written and directed by Tony Gilroy. Renner played a new lead character, Aaron Cross, in place of Jason Bourne, played by Matt Damon in the first three films. Renner has expressed interest in doing a Bourne film with Damon in the future, stating that "[it] would be kick-ass. I love Matt".
Renner starred in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters in a titular role alongside Gemma Arterton. Filmed in 2011 and released in January 2013, the 3-D fantasy action film was set 15 years after Hansel and Gretel killed the witch who kidnapped them. Renner was also featured in the ensemble cast of David O. Russell's American Hustle (2013), based on the controversial FBI ABSCAM operation of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The film, with Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence in principal roles, received much critical acclaim, including a Screen Actors Guild Award for the cast and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
