Jeremy Renner says returning to Mayor of Kingstown after near-fatal snowplow accident was ‘a little dicey’

Jeremy Renner has spoken about the physical and emotional strength it took for him to return for season three of Mayor of Kingstown a year after his near-fatal snowplow accident.

Last year, the 53-year-old actor – who leads the Paramount+ crime thriller as power broker Mike McLusky – was helping clear snow from the driveways of his neighbors when he was crushed by a large, seven-ton snow vehicle. He was airlifted to the hospital, where he was treated for severe injuries, including a collapsed lung and more than 30 broken bones.

Appearing on Wednesday’s (22 May) episode of Good Morning America, Renner shared a health update, saying: “I’m feeling pretty great. I’m feeling pretty strong.

“Starting the season this year at the beginning of the year was a little dicey, strength-wise, but by the end of it, usually you’re pretty shattered energy-wise but I feel pretty strong.”

When asked by co-host George Stephanopoulos if it was stamina or strength, Renner replied: “It’s both. Like the endurance was not very good but I’m better on both ends now. I feel really, really strong and really, really happy.”

Speaking about what it was like returning to work, he said: “I had to physically and emotionally lean on the cast and crew to get through the days. They compensated with scheduling and stuff, so I could get stronger.

“I think what happened was we just switched the thinking of the whole thing. I didn’t go to Pittsburgh to film Mayor of Kingstown, I went to go in my recovery and then Kingstown was kind of on the side.”

Elsewhere in the segment, Renner teased his forthcoming memoir. “It’s something pretty healing [and] cathartic for me,” he said, adding that it will include reflections on his near-death experience, his road to recovery and everything he’s learned throughout the process.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, published on Friday (17 May), Renner revealed that during his first week back at work, he fell asleep while filming a scene.

“They go, ‘And action!’ And I was out. We realized they worked me too hard, too many hours, too many days in a row,” he said. “What I’m willing to do is everything, but what I’m able to do is a different thing.”

He joked that “they have to treat me like I’m a child actor”. “The mayor of Kingstown is now like a 14-year-old.”

The hit series is all about the corruption of America’s prison system. It follows Renner’s ex-convict Mike, who lives in a fictional Michigan city where he and his family are trying to restore order and justice to a town that lacks both.

Season three of Mayor of Kingstown debuts on Showtime at 9pm ET on 2 June, with episodes streaming on Paramount+. New episodes will air weekly.