Jeremy Renner came by Jimmy KimmelLive! on Monday night, and offered more details about New Year’s Day’s horrific snowplow accident that left him with multiple broken bones and critical condition.
Described by host Jimmy Kimmel as the “toughest Avenger” for surviving the incident, Renner joked that he had a “very bad start to the year”, confirming that he broke about 35 bones after being pulled under the snowplow after attempting to save his cousin from being run over. He then went on to explain how “lucky” he was to survive as the squad had “missed every vertebra, [it] didn’t hit any organs, my brain didn’t swell, nothing like that. My eye came out, which is weird, but yeah… I was very lucky that none of the organs got messed up.”
When Kimmel fired back that the Hawkeye actor had also pierced his liver, Renner replied that “it wasn’t dangerous.” Kimmel also asked if his lung had collapsed, to which Renner said concisely, “Yeah, that’s fine. I have one more.”
Renner also spoke about the immediate aftermath of the accident, telling Kimmel that he was initially worried about how his cousin Alex would handle seeing him in such a serious condition. “Alex was there the whole time and he had to see his Uncle Jeremy on the floor. I didn’t see any of this stuff, the blood everywhere, the thing and the eye and all that stuff. I had to consider what his perspective was. And then it kept happening to everyone [else’s] perspective throughout this whole ordeal. It’s pretty distressing to take the time to really consider someone else’s perspective.
The actor revealed that a number of acting friends have been in contact with him following the accident, including MCU co-stars Chris Evans and Paul Rudd. Renner said Rudd went beyond just a visit and sent him a mock Cameo video wishing “Jerry” a speedy recovery from his “snowblower” incident. Kimmy played the Rudd clip, which the Ant man star’s national treasure status.
Renner said there were a few positives to his accident. “My first conscious thought was like, ‘Holy hell! My agenda is free for the rest of the year!” he joked by saying that “my year was pretty packed until I got crushed.” He added that his time in the hospital and his recovery allowed him to lose weight and give up a vice. “[The accident] was like a New Year’s resolution, so I lost 20 pounds, I quit smoking…it’s the easiest way to quit smoking.
