It was on New Year's Day in 2023 that Jeremy Renner was crushed by a snow plow while attempting to save his nephew, and a year on, he's finally ready to return to acting.
There were concerns that the Avengers: Endgame and Hawkeye star might not make it, but after a lengthy recovery, he's now just days away from stepping back on set to shoot Mayor of Kingstown season 3.
Anderson Cooper recently sat down with Renner who revealed how lucky he feels to have beaten the odds. "I'm just so blessed that I had so many things to live for. I have a giant family. I have a 10-year-old daughter. I would have disappointed and really messed up a lot of people's lives if I would've passed. So, there's a lot for me to get better for. I'm also a pretty stubborn S.O.B., and there's a lot for me to have to fight for."
"Recovery was just a one-way road in my mind, and recovery became a relief for me because I know I could give relief to my family, my daughter, to all those that I really affected. Like my poor nephew, who was there with me on that day, I gave him images he can never unsee."
"But I know that my healing would be healing for him, and with that, I never thought about my own physical ailments, or my own pain, or my own anguish," he continued. "I had so many things to fight for. The one-way road to recovery was my mental attitude, and that was to get better. There was no option other than that."
Renner jumped onto the rolling snow plow when he noticed it sliding towards his nephew and was pulled underneath and crushed. Sustaining more than 30 broken bones, the actor underwent emergency surgery to save his life and spent the vast majority of 2023 recovering.
Asked about acting again, Renner said, "It's been a really wonderfully busy year, and I think I'm ready, I think I'm strong enough. We'll see. I mean, we go back in a week. But I'm doing my best, trying my hardest."
There's no word on the actor's possible MCU return, though we're not banking on Hawkeye season 2 now Kate Bishop appears to be joining the Young Avengers. Clint Barton is bound to factor into Avengers 5, though, giving Renner ample time to prepare for all those stunts.
You can check out the full interview in the player below.