Actor Jeremy Renner who stars in "The Town," “The Bourne Legacy” and “The Avengers” won't be held back by fear -- not his and especially not anyone else’s.
Jeremy Renner at "The Bourne Legacy" Premiere. Photo by Eva Rinaldi"That emotion conquers love, and that makes me sad." [After years analyzing the roots of his own fear] "finding out what I was afraid of, what stops you in life, what gets in the way." - "Fear is just not a part of my life -- so much so that if it's involved in somebody else's life and they're close to me, I won't be around them." - Jeremy Renner (in The Hollywood Reporter)
One of the most important takeaways from Jeremy Renner's quote about fear is not that it merely gets in the way of living life, but rather, how the presence of fear in others can stifle our own path -- if we allow it.
Knowing that fear holds us back, it seems senseless to adopt the attitudes and beliefs of people who try their best to convince us that we cannot achieve certain goals -- when deep down, they are probably insecure about or unsatisfied with their own shortcomings, complacency or disappointments with how life is turning out for them. These people are dream killers who would rather see their fellow man down and out than bear witness to someone, somewhere, actually making it!
So, identifying the solution is pretty simple, right? Just change the people that you are around and in doing so, your circumstances and outlook on goals will likely improve. A big problem arises, however, when the fear isn't coming from an outside source. How do we solve the problem of being our own worse enemy? This question has been ever present in my life recently, as I find that all of the pieces of my short film puzzle aren't fitting together the way I want them to.
I've wondered if I should just hang the whole thing up, if maybe I'm not supposed to make movies - or even direct them. I've wondered whether I'm meant to pursue another unrelated field in the arts or change my direction and start over in an entirely different industry altogether. I'm also aware, however, that many of my doubts regarding filmmaking stem from fears that were created by no one other than me.
Consistency in execution, particularly, making the visual interpretation of my script be just as good, if not better, than the screenplay that I think I took way too long to complete is a fear that grows with every setback, door closed, budgetary limitation and lost day that I experience while trying to get this movie off the ground.
I have no interest in making a movie just to make one or to be able to say I made one. I want to make a movie that elicits the same enthusiasm as the screenplay from which it is based upon. If that cannot be done, then I don't even want to bother making it. That's just it though -- we can't predict the future, so in the case of my film, I'll never know what kind of results or audience response will come from the production unless I keep it moving either beyond or through any fears and stay out of my own way.
Its much more productive to operate from a place of unrelenting ambition or forward thinking than it is to operate from a place of fear. Adopting the latter mindset makes us much more likely to fail and even critically acclaimed, award-winning Actors such as Denzel Washington knows that the quickest way to guarantee failure is by not trying to succeed at whatever it is that you want to accomplish -- whether that be in entertainment, sports, business, parenting, spiritual growth, relationships, dieting and nutrition, traveling, education or any other part of life that tickles your fancy. So, failure is not an option and I can put efforts into staying away from all of the fear inducing, dream-killing people in the world but I still cannot run from myself.
What are your thoughts on fear?
Have you adopted someone else’s (a parent, neighbor, family member, friend, co-worker, etc.) fears? If so, has it helped or hindered your life in some way?
Has fear ever prevented you from participating in a recreational activity, traveling to a particular destination or pursuing something of personal or professional interest?
Jeremy Renner is the October 2012 King Dong. He succeeds Gerard Butler on the throne.