Jeremy Renner jokes that snowplow accident was ‘the easiest way to quit smoking’
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A few months after getting crushed by a 14,000-pound snowplow, Jeremy Renner is reflecting on the silver linings of the life-threatening accident that landed him in an ICU with more than 30 broken bones.
In a recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Renner said that he “got lucky in a lot of ways.” Although he broke around 35 bones — he said the doctors keep discovering more — the snowplow that he described as a “giant metal cookie roller” missed every vertebrae and organ. He didn’t have any brain swelling. And when Kimmel mentioned a “collapsed lung,” Renner joked: “Yeah, that’s fine. I’ve got another one.”
“My eye did pop out,” the actor said. “That’s weird.”
Jeremy Renner appears on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’
The 52-year-old “Avengers” star was beaming as he walked onto the stage of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” earlier this week with a cane. He gave the host a hug and smiled as the audience gave him a standing ovation. He even did a little dancing.
“Was this a publicity stunt?” Kimmel joked.
“Absolutely,” Renner said with a laugh.
“Now if there was any question as to who the toughest Avenger was, that’s settled now, right?” Kimmel said, as Renner interjected with “Scarlett Johansson.” “Forget Downey, Hemsworth, forget these guys, it’s you, you’re the guy.”
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Renner has undergone a reconstruction of sorts since the accident. His rib cages were rebuilt with metal. His jaw is now held together with rubber bands and screws, and there are titanium rods in his legs. While the 52-year-old actor said it was “a very bad way to start the year,” he’s been grateful to have his family with him through it all.
“They’ve been at my side the entire time,” Renner told Kimmel, noting that his family was in attendance for the show.
Renner spent most of his brief interview with Kimmel cracking jokes and focusing on the positive — his family, friends and other blessings that have emerged from the accident. He said his typically busy schedule is wide open now, and that he was even able to kick his smoking habit to the curb.
“The easiest way to quit smoking — because I almost killed myself I didn’t even think about smoking. It was easy peasy!” he joked.
At one point during the interview, Kimmel shared a recent video of Renner on a motorized scooter jamming out to Prince at Six Flags.
“You’re making a mockery of this injury, you really are,” Kimmel laughed.
“I promise you I’m in a ton of pain,” Renner responded.
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Kimmel also shared a fake Cameo video made by Renner’s friend and “Avengers” co-star Paul Rudd.
“Hey Jerry, I hear you’re a little banged up, got in a fight with a snowblower, apparently?” Rudd begins, adding that he hopes Renner is feeling better and that maybe the two would get to meet one day.
“Next time, maybe just let the snow melt,” Rudd concluded.
‘Rennervations’ is now on Disney+
Renner’s new show “Rennervations” has also been a “driving force” in his recovery, the Deseret News previously reported. The show hit Disney+ on April 12.
“This show set the milestone for me to to get better, to make sure that all of our hard work wasn’t for nothing,” Renner said at the premiere screening of the show in Los Angeles earlier this week, per USA Today. “There was no alternative. So for me, it was easy. There was somewhere to go, somewhere to point, and I had a lot of love.”
The four-part docuseries shows the actor repurposing decommissioned government vehicles for communities in need — a longtime passion of Renner’s.
“I never thought I’d have dreams as a 52-year-old man still,” Renner told CNN at the premiere screening. “I feel like I kind of did them. But wow, it’s nice to have things come true for yourself. There’s more wonderment still to be had, and I feel very grateful to be here to continue finding that wonderment.”
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