In the months following the accident, the Marvel star was receiving around-the-clock medical care in an intensive care unit. While he overcame 38 broken bones, a collapsed lung and significant blunt chest trauma, the star says it wasn’t just his personal life the accident had an impact on.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, the 53-year-old star opened up about how the accident also changed his approach to acting.
Actor Jeremy Renner has revealed details of his snowplough accident. Photo / Instagram
Renner has been filming the third season of Mayor of Kingstown, in which he plays a power broker in a fictional Michigan city.
Confessing his on-set physical abilities are restricted now, he said it has resulted in cast and crew treating him differently, “They have to treat me like I’m a child actor,” he told the news outlet. “The mayor of Kingstown is now like a 14-year-old.”
Discussing his first week back at work in January this year - exactly 12 months after the accident - he said he once fell asleep during takes.
“They go, ‘And action!’ And I was out,” he said. “We discovered they worked me too hard, too many hours, too many days in a row. What I’m willing to do is everything, but what I’m able to do is a different thing.”
Renner also said he has found it difficult to portray a physically capable character when he himself is “trying to learn to walk again” and had to seriously consider if he wanted to return to acting.
“To try to create some truth and then get the audience to believe it, while I’m just trying to learn to walk again, to put one foot in front of the other and not get up in agony,” he explained.
“I’m doing all these things to find my footing on the planet again. The idea of going into a fictional world - I have to be honest with you, I had to really consider, is this something I really want to do?”
The star said his return to work was made easier with the help of the crew, who were quick to make changes to accommodate his new reality - including adapting the shooting schedule times and factoring in breaks for the star to stretch.
Jeremy Renner suffered 38 broken bones and a collapsed lung after being run over by a snowplough in January 2023. Photo / ABC
Despite it all, the star is choosing to stay positive and told the outlet: “I’m walking through life with a smile on my face. And there’s nothing that’s ever going to change that.”
