When Jeremy Renner returned to film The mayor of Kingstown after a horrific snowmobile accident, he had to accept that some things would never be the same after recovery.
On January 1, 2023 falcon’s eye star, 53, was involved in a terrifying accident when he was run over by a 14,300 lb. car. snowplow while helping a family member pull a stuck vehicle out of an estimated three feet of snowfall from the night before. He was left with 38 broken bones, a collapsed lung and significant chest trauma from the ordeal.
After The mayor of Kingstown co-creator Hugh Dillion asked his mother for permission to return to the set, Renner returned to work a year after the accident with some unexpected limitations on his physical abilities.
“Trying to create a little bit of truth and make the audience believe in it, while I’m just trying to learn to walk again, put one foot in front of the other and not get up in agony. I’m doing all these things to find my footing on the planet again,” he said. Los Angeles Times. “The idea of going to a fictional world – I have to be honest with you, I had to really think, Is this something I really want to do?”
After stepping in front of the camera, Renner recalled falling asleep during his first week of filming. “They say: ‘And action!’ And I was out,” he said. “We realized that they worked me too much, too many hours, too many days in a row. What I am volitional to do is everything but what I am capable to do is another thing.”
Jeremy Renner is recovering from a snow plow accident. Jeremy Renner/instagram A timeline of Jeremy Renner’s snowplow accident and his ongoing recovery
As a result, the producers had to make some changes to accommodate the actor, including altering the demanding shooting schedule and allowing him time to stretch and exercise on set, occasionally between takes.
Renner also told the outlet that he stayed in Pittsburgh during the four months of filming instead of flying back and forth from California to avoid experiencing jet lag and putting extra stress on his body.
“They have to treat me like I’m a child actor. The mayor of Kingstown is like a 14-year-old now,” he joked to the show’s crew.
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Jeremy Renner in ‘The Mayor of Kingstown’.
Dennis P. Mong Jr./Paramount +
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Despite the new changes he’s had to overcome and the arduous recovery process — which he said included screaming into a rag and bucket while taking painkillers in the hospital — the actor has been open about keeping a positive outlook on life.
Part of that involved using laughter as medicine. He said LA Times he tried to “find sobriety through humor. I’ve always looked for a joke because I know it takes time and [the ability] read the room. And it also feels good to laugh.”
Relying on the support of family and the medical team also helped. “A collective of all these people was needed. That is the power of love. It’s a slow burn. Man, I’m telling you,” he said, adding that “divine intervention” likely also aided his survival and recovery.
“I’m alive. I walk through life with a smile on my face,” he said later. “And there’s nothing that’s going to change that. Nothing. It’s impossible for me to have a bad day.”
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Jeremy Renner as Mike McLusky in the second season of ‘The Mayor of Kingstown’.
Dennis P. Mong Jr./Paramount +
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While recovering, Renner was visited by many of his Marvel co-stars, including Anthony Mackie, Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr.
In March, Hurt Locker star told PEOPLE what it’s like Oppenheimer the actor kept checking on him as he recovered in a hospital bed.
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“We ended up having really great conversations on FaceTime, like we were dating or something,” Renner recalled, sharing how Downey distracted him from “other people’s pain” by cracking jokes.
“He says, ‘Dude, the most important thing is that you look good. I don’t care how you feel, as long as you look good that’s all that matters,'” he added. “He’s like, ‘You have to come back to be mayor, because we have to see what happens.’ His ways are very touching.”
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Source: HIS Education