Jeremy Renner refused to be killed off in Mission: Impossible

Jeremy Renner refused to return to 'Mission: Impossible' just to be killed off.

The 53-year-old actor appeared in 2011's 'Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol' and 2015’s 'Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation' but rejected the opportunity to come back as IMF agent William Brandt in 2018 installment 'Mission: Impossible - Fallout' as he was unhappy with the thought of being away from his young daughter to execute a plot he wasn't comfortable with.

He said on the 'Happy Sad Confused' podcast: “I remember they tried to bring me over[seas] for a week so they could kill my character, and I was like, ‘No, you don’t get to do that. You’re not going to drag me over there and just kill my character,’ like get out of here!

"If you’re going to do this and you’re going to use my character, you’re going to do it right.”

He laughingly added: “I yelled at [director Christopher McQuarrie]. Dude, you’re not going to do this to me like that; you’re not going to do me wrong.”

When Jeremy first joined the franchise, speculation was rife that studio bosses were keen for him to take over as series lead from Tom Cruise, but the 'Hawkeye' star insisted that was never the case.

He said: “No, it was always Tom’s show, that would be a Tom decision, if he ever wanted to change that narrative.

“And as he’s maturing as an actor, he kinda wants to hold on, he’s doing ‘Top Gun’ again, right? He’s rebooting that, and let’s [lean] into the things in his life that he’s comfortable with now…the guy’s a beast and works harder than anyone I know.”

Jeremy - who has 11-year-old Ava with ex-wife Sonni Pacheco - recently admitted he'd like to return to the franchise now his daughter is older.

He told Collider: “I was supposed to do more with them. I love those guys. I love Tom so much. We had so much fun, and I love that character a lot.

"It requires a lot of time away. It’s all in London. I had to go be a dad. It just wasn’t gonna work out then. Maybe now that my daughter is older that could happen.

"I’d always jump into a Mission: Impossible anytime and back into Brandt. It’s great.”