Jeremy Renner was “never afraid” of dying, but after his snowplow incident, he’s now “kind of excited” for death.
Renner, 53, was run over by a snowplow on January 1, 2023, resulting in traumatic injuries. The actor spent most of 2023 recovering and trying to return to his regular activities.
“I was never afraid, mind you, of death prior. Now, I’m really not afraid of it. Now, I’m double downing. Yes, certainly not afraid of it,” Renner said during an appearance on “This Life of Mine with James Corden.” “Now, I’m kind of excited for it. To be honest, it’s what life really is. This rock that we’re spinning on, and this body and this language that we’re speaking and all these feelings and emotions and conflict is all horse s–t. It’s meaningless in the scheme of things.”
JEREMY RENNER FEELS ‘NERVOUS’ ON 1ST DAY BACK AT WORK FOLLOWING TRAUMATIC SNOWPLOW ACCIDENT
Bodycam footage showed what unfolded during Renner’s traumatic snowplow accident on New Year’s Day near his home in Nevada, where he was “completely crushed” by his 14,000-pound PistenBully Snowcat.
Renner was run over by the snowcat while attempting to tow a vehicle stuck in the snow following a massive storm. The actor was airlifted to a local hospital and had surgery after suffering blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries.
Renner explained to Corden that part of his recovery included titanium implants.
“It’s 15, 20 percent of my body at this point and it will be with me forever,” he revealed. “It’s like half of my ribs, right?”
WATCH: DEPUTIES PIECE TOGETHER JEREMY RENNER’S SNOWPLOW ACCIDENT
Renner’s recovery is being showcased in his new Super Bowl LVIII ad with alternative dairy brand Silk. The commercial, which also features his daughter Ava, follows the actor as he dances around singing “I Feel Good.” At one point, Renner jumps up onto the counter, and CBS Mornings shared behind the scenes footage of the actor completing the stunts himself.
He told People, “I still don’t believe it, that it’s even really transpired. There’s some sort of milestones that give me confidence, and this is probably another one of them. . . . I never would’ve tried or attempted any of these types of moves, or dancing around like James Brown on a countertop. I did everything, and it felt good and didn’t hurt too much the next day. I’m happy to have to be tested to try it, but to be honest, there’s a lot of hesitancy, and it’s baby steps for me in this deal.”
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Renner’s recovery has been incredible, but he originally thought he wasn’t “going to come back from death,” which he described as “glorious.”
“I don’t know if it’s fading into consciousness or just fading out of like heart stoppage,” he explained to Corden. “That everything was, all life was grand. All life just got better. It’s an energetic thing. There’s no time, place or space or color or anything. It’s just a known peace.”
WATCH: FIRST RESPONDERS DISCUSS JEREMY RENNER’S INJURIES AFTER SNOWPLOW ACCIDENT
Renner’s accident also gave him an appreciation for his friends, including his “Avengers” co-star Anthony Mackie.
“One of the first people at my hospital bed was Anthony Mackie,” Renner noted. “This accident. He was in Vegas. He shot over, and he’s the first person I saw when I woke up and we don’t talk all the time.”
“We’re not like hanging out all the time, because the problem with having, you know, actor friends, everyone’s so busy and now we’re all parents, and we never see each other. We rarely talk to each other, but the connectedness that we have is an always thing,” he added.
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Renner became a two-time Oscar nominee with “The Hurt Locker” and “The Town.” He earned his own Disney+ series, “Hawkeye,” after multiple appearances in Marvel films, including “The Avengers” series.
He returned to film “Mayor of Kingstown” in January.
“Day one on set … nervous today,” he captioned a snap shared on his Instagram. “Hope this works out that I can ACTUALLY pull this off for our production and more importantly the fans.”
Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright contributed to this report.