In 2000, Jeremy Renner was a struggling actor. Then a future hitmaking boy band came calling

Jeremy Renner, then a struggling actor, was invited to audition for the early 2000s boy band O-Town after a friend of music manager Lou Pearlman suggested he call. The story offers a glimpse of how uncertain Renner’s career was before he became known for acclaimed films and Marvel’s Hawkeye.

Renner said he sang a song he had written over the phone and was sent a plane ticket to Miami, but had no intention of joining the group. At the time, he was taking odd acting roles and working as a make-up artist to pay the bills; in 2002, his portrayal of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer brought award nominations and helped establish his acting career.