Advertisement
In a GQ interview, Jeremy Renner reflected on how watching Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, widely regarded as one of the best sci-fi films ever made, had a profound impact on him.
The interviewer mentioned how some films linger with you after watching, triggering deep thoughts. They cited Arrival as a prime example of such a film. Renner responded, “It’s interesting you say that because I don’t usually watch the things I’m in, but that’s exactly how I felt when I saw Arrival. I went in knowing very little about it, and the film is so minimalist that the character’s role is quite limited, which makes the story’s twists even more striking.”
He went on to describe his experience in vivid detail, “I remember exactly where I was when I watched it and what happened to me. I walked out of the theater and started crying in the parking lot. I was completely blown away by Villeneuve’s direction. The way he crafted the film, with some CGI and elements I didn’t fully understand, was just mind-blowing. I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a real filmmaker.’”
Renner also drew a comparison between the visual effects in Arrival and his own experiences working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He explained that in Arrival, the filmmakers used puppeteers with poles to simulate alien movements, which helped actors like him interact more naturally with the imaginary creatures. “In the MCU, a lot of times, we’re acting with nothing—sometimes it’s a green screen or a tennis ball,” he said. “So having real, interactive elements like in Arrival was a refreshing change.”