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

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-2000-jeremy-renner-was-a-struggling-actor-then-a-future-hitmaking-boy-band-came-calling/
- Published: 2026-11-05T05:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T05:26:52+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/in-2000-jeremy-renner-was-a-struggling-actor-then-a-future-hitmaking-boy-band-came-calling/
- Topics: Celebrity, Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Renner auditioned for O-Town while struggling to find acting work.
- The band invited him to Miami, but he says he never planned to join.
- His breakthrough came in 2002 with a role as Jeffrey Dahmer.

## Summary

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.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.