Jeremy Renner is quite the handyman, said Chris Jones in Esquire. When the Avengers star signed his first big movie contract, in 2002, he used the money to buy a rundown Los Angeles house with fellow actor Kristoffer Winters. “I hated paying rent,” the actor says. “It was just money going out the window.” They remodeled the house for fun, but when it sold for a $240,000 profit, they realized they could turn their hobby into a business. The pair started buying promising properties, and often lived in the gutted houses, without plumbing or power, to save a few dollars. “I can tell you every Starbucks that had a bathroom around [Los Angeles],” Renner says. His latest project is an 11-bedroom mansion that he bought at an IRS auction and plans to sell for at least $25 million. Renner thinks that his sideline in construction has taught him the skills he needs to sustain a long career in Hollywood. “Building a house is like producing a movie. There’s no right way to do it, but a lot of wrong ways. You have to be flexible and creative. You have to move fast, be prepared—or it quickly becomes costly. It’s certainly affected how I approach my life.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
June 14 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include Donald's 30 dolls, a Flag Day fail and a MAGA Mayflower
-
5 jackbooted cartoons about L.A.'s anti-ICE protestsCartoons Artists take on National Guard deployment, the failure of due process, and more
-
Some of the best music and singing holidays in 2025The Week Recommends From singing lessons in the Peak District to two-week courses at Chetham's Piano Summer School
