Working under high pressure

To understand what it is like to serve as a bomb-disposal technician in Iraq, The Hurt Locker’s Jeremy Renner spent a week at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California. Encased within the 100lb protective suit, a simple task such as transferring piles of paper clips became almost herculean.

“I wanted to pass out,” Renner says. “You can manoeuvre, but not gracefully. The heat means you don’t see clearly. Being in a suit like that dumbs you down by about 25 IQ points, so you have to focus. To be in combat on top of all that, stress levels sky-rocket.

“I spent time with the guys and they opened up their lives to me. They come in all shapes and sizes. It’s a volunteer part of the army, which fascinates me. What they all have in common is training, a mental toughness. They’re not afraid of the IED [improvised explosive device]; they’re worried about how long they’re spending over the IED because they have more chance of getting shot at. They can deal with the bomb.”

A year later Renner donned the suit again, this time in the 125 degree heat of Jordan for three months in late 2007 under the watchful eye of director Kathryn Bigelow. Renner’s performance as the mesmerising staff sergeant William James demanded complete immersion in a methodology and philosophy of life, revealing an expert soldier governed by professional exactitude and deep reserves of compassion. The role has already earned him the best actor award from the National Society of Film Critics in the US.

“I always like to look at the deeper layers,” says Renner. “It’s about doing what’s honest. I’m very aware there are obvious choices and Kathryn was about capturing the subtleties.”

Nowhere is this more evident than in a desert shootout sequence, when James bonds with the other soldiers in his bomb squad, played by Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty.

“It’s about leadership and you see how the buddy system works in that scene.” Very few words are spoken, which suits Renner just fine. “I told Kathryn we should do a silent film. I would much rather communicate in other ways than lots of words. Mark [Boal]’s script was fairly frugal with words.”

Jeremy Kay