MovieChat Forums > Dahmer Discussion > Jeremy Renner is a great actor, but...

Jeremy Renner is a great actor, but...

posted 11 years ago by mercury4
9 replies | jump to latest

Jeremy Renner is a great actor, but he was totally miscast as Jeffrey Dahmer. He looks nothing like him and he's too short. Everyone knows Dahmer was taller than that. He doesn't sound anything like him either. He tries to do the accent, but he doesn't sound like him at all. He actually sounds funny. When Renner made The Town he had to do a Boston accent. He was great in that movie as Gem and even did a good Boston accent. But in Dahmer he was way off. I'm glad Jeremy Renner made a name for himself with The Hurt Locker. After I saw Dahmer I thought he was done. I figured he'd be miscast and never become a star. Renner also has said that he stopped dating for a while after he made Dahmer. He was attracting weird people from playing that part. The Hurt Locker saved him. I don't know if he'll ever take the role, but for some reason I can see Bradley Cooper as Dahmer.

[–] s-irmscher 11 years ago

I saw this movie recently (german, syncronized) and english original a bit later. I thought he did a great job. Low-budget flick maybe and continuity erros but the leads -imo- strong performance (starting with mannerism, facial expression, gestures etc pp - just felt "round" to me) and that flashback stuff kept me interested.
Must say i wasn't _that_ informed about that whole Dahmer-thing before watching this, besides knowing the name and what happened, but not to the detail.

[–] Moviefan_49 10 years ago

I thought he looked just the part for Dahmer in my opinion. He was really good in it. This was the first Jeremy Renner movie I saw before he became a huge star.

[–] smitthhh 10 years ago

He managed to be creepy and weird enough for the role. This role must have been really hard. I wouldn't expect many action stars like him to be able to pull it off.

[–] furiousneon 10 years ago

He didn't look identical to dahmer but definitely close enough. As far as his voice, I thought he sounded spot on. And he portrayed dahmer accurately (smart, lonely, depressed, odd and boring enough to slip through the cracks and get away with such horrific acts for as long as he did). I actually think renner was fantastic.

[–] Killingforcompany 10 years ago

Miscast? The role made this guy's career what it is today. I mean, you cannot say that he was miscast just because he didn't nail the midwestern accent completely. There's much more to acting than that....

[–] Sal42 9 years ago

I think I read somewhere he had a week to prepare and two weeks to film the role. Plus it was his first dramatic lead role, so I think a less than perfect accent is forgivable. Kathryn Bigelow is on record as saying she cast him in The Hurt Locker because of his performance in Dahmer and Charlize Theron also watched this film at some point prior to meeting him in 2004; I imagine she was doing prep for Monster which came out the year after Dahmer and she joked that she was a bit afraid of working with him, but they subsequently became close friends.

"We're the victims of a foul disease called social prejudice...be a proud, glorified dreg like me"

[–] inko8 9 years ago

i agree. dahmer had pronounced features, such as an overbite and high cheekbones, and much deeper-set eyes. compared to jeffrey dahmer, jeremy renner looks like a keane painting.

for the purpose of making the film, however, i think it was useful to have a face that would be more welcoming to the viewer. renner's puppy dog looks create a sense of comfort that gets broken by the automaton-like violence carried out in certain segments, then corrected bizarrely and sadly when we see that same violent monster search for intimacy.

off topic: the ending reminded me of the original dutch "The Vanishing," wherein we see the killer go about his business with his family, and realize just how unknowable the mind of such a person can be. the dialogue had dahmer talk about "programming" in one context, and in another, there are actions taken in his behavior that seem that way since they defy logic. this film was surprising and well done.

"Ugh! I don't like this." --Ambrose Bierce

[–] NewBeanz 9 years ago

I agree, Renner was a good choice.

[–] GeF_fEn 9 years ago

Op is wrong. Renner looked exctually like Damher.

(SSDD)