empirical katha: 'Bourne Legacy' Star Jeremy Renner Talks 'Replacing' Matt Damon

'There's similarities and then there's differences,' Renner says of his character vs. Damon's Jason Bourne.
By Terri Schwartz

Jeremy Renner
Photo: Getty Images

When it comes to up-and-coming action stars, Jeremy Renner is the man to watch. He dabbled in the action genre with films like "The Hurt Locker," "The Town" and "28 Weeks Later," but the Academy Award nominee is going to get pretty hard-core with his next four films. In "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," Renner plays a supporting role to Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt, but soon he will also have the weight of the "Bourne" franchise on his shoulders.

Renner is currently filming "The Bourne Legacy," the first "Bourne" film in the series that doesn't feature Matt Damon. Despite the fact that he is taking over the franchise from its former leading man, Renner said there are no hard feelings between the two of them. In fact, Damon has been nothing but supportive of the whole process.

"He's always been so complimentary to me from the moment I met him. Such a great guy," Renner said. "I met him from 'The Town,' obviously, 'cause of him and Ben [Affleck] being best buds. I met him first at the Academy Awards, actually, for 'The Hurt Locker.' He sat in front of me, and he saw 'The Town' before I saw it and said he loved it. He's a very, very complimentary, loving dude."

The duo met up recently in New York, where Renner said they did end up talking about the "Bourne" franchise. But instead of trying to convince Damon to make a cameo appearance in "The Bourne Legacy," the two actors ended up discussing how they'd like to work together on a future project.

"I want to work with him, actually. That's what we talked about mostly, just sort of, maybe getting to work together somehow, some way, something," Renner said.

So what would the potential movie be about? Renner was stumped. "I don't know, maybe ... I have no idea what it would be. Transvestite cops? Play some tranny detectives? You want to see me in a onesie and jumpsuit?" he asked with a laugh.

Even though Damon and Renner are friends in real life, don't expect their onscreen characters to be very similar. Renner revealed that his "Bourne" character, Aaron Cross, will have some similarities to Jason Bourne but will also have his own story.

"There's similarities and then there's differences," he said of Cross's relationship to Bourne. "I can't get into what those are because it gives away plot points and I don't want to spoil anything for anybody. But I think the picture will stay congruent enough with the franchise that Matt has been in charge of, and now I hope to make the fans happy and take them on another little road."

Check out everything we've got on "The Bourne Legacy."

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