Pratik Handore
Set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ‘Hawkeye’ is an action-adventure series created by Jonathan Igla. It follows Clint Barton and his protege Kate Bishop as they try to uncover a criminal conspiracy. The heroes rely on their wits and exceptional archery skills to deal with bad guys and save the day.
Actors Jeremey Renner and Hailee Steinfeld take aim as Clint and Kate, the iconic Marvel Comics characters who use the moniker of Hawkeye. The characters’ physics-defying archery skills in the show will certainly make viewers curious about the bow-slinging talents of the actors portraying them. If you are wondering whether Renner and Steinfeld know archery for real, here’s everything you need to know!
Does Jeremey Renner Know Archery in Real Life?
‘Hawkeye’ isn’t actor Jeremey Renner’s first tango as the World’s Greatest Archer. The actor has been appearing as Clint Barton/Hawkeye in the ‘MCU’ films for almost a decade, starting with an uncredited cameo appearance in a post-credits scene of 2011’s ‘Thor.’ Renner does not have a background in archery and had to learn the skill for the show. In preparation for his role as Hawkeye. Renner reportedly received training in the Olympic Style of archery which is evident in the character’s form and bow drawing style.
The character of Hawkeye also uses his bow in hand-to-hand combat, and the actor studied martial arts such as Muay Thai to execute the same. Renner is aware that his on-screen style of archery isn’t akin to real-world archery and addressed the same while speaking at Silicon Valley Comic-Con in 2016. He said, “Real archery is not superhero Hawkeye archery. So (the training) kind of helped, but it kind of got in the way, as well. I did train to shoot arrows.” Renner has also revealed that Hawkeye’s archery sequences feature heavy use of CGI.
Does Hailee Steinfeld Know Archery in Real Life?
Actress Hailee Steinfeld rose to prominence with her performance as Mattie Ross in the acclaimed Western drama ‘True Grit.’ Her credits include films such as ‘Pitch Perfect 2.’ and ‘Bumblebee.’ Steinfeld makes her ‘MCU’ debut in ‘Hawkeye’ as Kate Bishop, a self-taught archer in the comics. Therefore, Steinfeld made the extra effort to learn archery. “Kate is self-taught, and it was important to me to take it on myself, to be there by the time we started shooting,” she said in an interview with Empire.
Steinfeld was unaware of the role of CGI in creating her character’s archery sequences until filming began. Nonetheless, the ‘Dickinson‘ star felt that having the basics of archery under her belt informed her performance. Like Renner, Steinfeld learned to fight with the bow. “When I went to Atlanta, I started working with the bow in a different way through stunt training. A bow is a weapon without any arrows, and I had to learn how to fight with just that,’ Steinfeld dished out while speaking to News18. Steinfeld has also revealed that since taking on the role of Kate Bishop, archery has become a hobby for her.
Read More: Where Was Hawkeye Filmed?
