Actor Jeremy Renner, who started 2023 with a near death experience, said he’s now “kind of excited” for death.
Renner, 53, was run over by a snowplow on Jan. 1, 2023. The actor spent most of 2023 recovering from traumatic injuries and trying to return to his regular activities, according to Fox News.
“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 SiriusXM’s “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.”
Bodycam footage showed what unfolded on New Year’s Day 2023 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, Fox reported.
Renner said part of his recovery included titanium implants.
“It’s 15, 20% of my body at this point and it will be with me forever,” he said. “It’s like half of my ribs, right?”
Renner’s recovery is being showcased in his new Super Bowl LVIII adwith plant-based beverage 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.
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 told 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.”
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.
He returned to film “Mayor of Kingstown” in January.