'Hawkeye' star Jeremy Renner says: 'I’m a badass dude because I was raised by badass women'

Jeremy Renner has spoken out about how being "raised by badass women" helped his understanding of the opposite sex.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe star recently appeared on Dax Shepard and Monica Padman's hit podcast, Armchair Expert.

Throughout the episode, the Hawkeye actor talks about his relationship with other MCU stars, his investment choices, and how he once bought a fleet of firetrucks to help support volunteer crews in his community. But perhaps the most eye-opening topic the trio discussed was that of Renner's masculinity and his relationship with women.

Renner reflected on how a fragrance modeling job led to him making friends with the women at the cosmetics counter. After speaking to them about a job, Renner told them that he used to do his own makeup when working in the theater. He then asked why they were wearing makeup themselves, leading to him asking them: "Wouldn’t it be interesting to get a man’s opinion on how a woman looks with makeup on?"

Renner and his mother back in 2011. Credit: Everett Collection Inc / Alamy

Boom! The job was his.

However, Renner revealed that an important part of the job for him was making sure his female clients were comfortable with a man applying their makeup.

"How do I make this woman feel beautiful, because beauty comes from within right here in your heart – this is only going to express that," Renner said. "That was my job as a makeup artist in my eyes."

The conversation then leads to Renner's upbringing, to which he said: "I grew up with women. I’m a badass dude because I was raised by badass women."

The oldest of seven children, Renner even recalled: "I helped birth my sister - My mom taught me Lamaze to  help birth my sister."

This also led to him being around for the birth of his sister's first child.

"Being good with women is understanding women," Renner added.

Renner then tells the hosts: "I taught girls how to put tampons in, right? I just thought that was normal, but apparently it’s not, unless you’re a gyno. I didn’t know any better, I was just raised around women."

The actor then talks about studying Theater and Psychology in college, and reveals: "That understanding of empowering a woman, especially, is important to me, and that’s how I expressed it - through makeup."

Featured image credit: Sipa US / Alamy