After two decades of struggle, the intense, hard-working actor burst onto the scene in 2008’s The Hurt Locker. Now the two-time Academy Award nominee is getting some action—and a place on Hollywood’s A-list with mega-budget movies like The Avengers and Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol.

But that doesn’t mean he’s about to give up his construction business. DETAILS interviewed rising action star Jeremy Renner for the cover story of the mag’s December/January issue, which features photos of the actor by Norman Jean Roy.

So is that how the hunky 40-year-old maintains his stellar body? I’d love to stumble upon a construction site and see a sweaty Renner building things and taking them apart…..

But I digress….

Here are some highlights from the interview:

On how the hands-on physicality of rebuilding houses compares to filmmaking…
“Building a house is like producing a movie. There’s no right way to do it, but a lot of wrong ways. You have to be flexible and creative. You have to move fast, be prepared—or it quickly becomes costly. These sound like life lessons. It certainly affected how I approach my life.”

On fixing up old houses while he waited for roles that mattered to him earlier in his career…
“I wasn’t super-happy being so poor. Eating on $10 a month—probably not very good for you. But I loved what I was doing. Not every actor gives their life to do this job. Some just do it as a job. Well, it’s my life.”

On dating…
“I never dated, because I couldn’t afford to date. I didn’t even have electricity. You try to put a positive spin on it, like, ‘Hey, this is so sexy—look at all these candles!’ But I loved what I was doing. The sacrifices I made in personal relationships had the biggest effect on my life. Even now, any woman would take a No. 2 seat to my job.”

On his film roles…
“I’m blessed to have cool roles in these big movies. Because nothing against Transformers, but thank God I don’t have to do a monologue to a robot. I don’t know how Shia, God bless him, does that.”

On unwanted attention and celebrity culture:
“I don’t pay attention to that horseshit. Build ‘em up to bring ‘em down? I’m not going on that train, my son. I’m not going on that train. I’ll walk. I’ll take a bike. [Renner laughs.] I’d rather just not be popular.”

To read the entire juicy interview, make sure to pick up the November/December issue of Details Magazine available in stores on November 29th.

Still want more of this California native? Check out his behind-the-scenes video via this link.

Photo Credit: Norman Jean Roy for DETAILS