Jeremy Renner was treated like a “child” after an accident in “Mayor of Kingstown.”

When Jeremy Renner returned to film Mayor of Kingstown After his horrific snowmobile accident, he had to accept that some things would never be the same after recovery.

On January 1, 2023, the Hawkeye Star, 53, was involved in a horrific accident when he was hit by a 14,300-pound car. snow plow as he helped a family member free a stuck vehicle from an estimated three feet of snowfall the night before. He suffered 38 broken bones, a collapsed lung and severe chest trauma as a result of the ordeal.

After Mayor of Kingstown When co-creator Hugh Dillion asked his mother for permission to return to the set, Renner went back to work on the first anniversary of his accident with some unexpected limitations to his physical abilities.

“I’m trying to create something true and then make the audience believe it, while I’m just trying to learn to walk again, to put one foot in front of the other and not get up in agony. “I’m doing all these things to regain my footing on the planet,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “The idea of ​​immersing yourself in a fictional world – I have to be honest, I really had to think about it, Is this something I really want to do??”

As he stood in front of the camera, Renner recalled falling asleep while filming his first week back. “They say, ‘And action!’ And I was outside,” he said. “We realized they were making me work too hard, too many hours, too many days in a row. What I am.” ready To do is everything but what I am capable to do is something else.”

As a result, producers had to make some changes to accommodate the actor, including altering the demanding filming schedule and allowing time to stretch and exercise on set, occasionally between takes.

Renner also told the outlet that he stayed in Pittsburgh for the duration of the four-month shoot rather than flying back and forth from California to avoid jet lag and additional stress on his body.

“You have to treat me like I’m a child actor. “The mayor of Kingstown is like a 14-year-old now,” he joked about the show’s crew.

Despite the new changes he had to overcome and an arduous recovery process – which he said included screaming at a mop and a bucket while taking painkillers in the hospital – the actor spoke openly about maintaining a positive outlook on life.

Part of this involved using laughter as healing. He told that L.A. Times He tried to “find sobriety through humor. I was always looking for a joke to crack because I know it requires timing and (the ability to) read the room. And it’s just good to laugh.”

The support of his family and medical team also helped. “It took the collective of all these people. That is the power of love. It’s a slow burn. Man, I’m telling you,” he said, adding that “divine intervention” likely also contributed to his survival and recovery.

“I’m alive. “I go through life with a smile on my face,” he said later. “And nothing will change that.” Nothing. It’s impossible for me to have a bad day.”

While he was on the mend, Renner was visited by many of his Marvel colleagues, including Anthony Mackie, Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr.

In March the Easily injured Star told people how that Oppenheimer The actor constantly checked on him as he recovered in his hospital bed.

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“We ended up having really great chats on FaceTime, like we were dating or something,” Renner recalled, recounting how Downey distracted him from “otherworldly pain” by cracking jokes.

“He says, ‘Dude, the most important thing is that you look good. “I don’t care how you feel, as long as you look good, that’s all that matters,” he added. “He said, ‘You have to go back to be mayor because we’ll have to see what happens.'” His attitude is very heartwarming.”