“Indestructible” Jeremy Renner Talks Snow Plow Accident on ‘Kimmel’: “I Got Lucky”

Jeremy Renner dropped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday night, and offered more details on the horrific New Year’s Day snow plow accident that left him with multiple broken bones and in 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 “35 or so” bones after he was pulled under the snow plow after attempting to save his nephew from being run over. He then detailed how “lucky” he was to survive as the plow had “missed every vertebra, [it] didn’t hit any organs, my brain didn’t swell, nothing like that. My eye did pop out, that’s weird but yeah… I got very lucky that none of the organs got messed up.”

When Kimmel shot 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 pithily, “yeah, that’s fine. I got another one.”

Renner also spoke about the immediate aftermath of the accident, telling Kimmel that his initial worry was about how his nephew Alex would deal with seeing him in such a serious condition. “Alex was there during the entire time and he had to see his Uncle Jeremy on the ground. I didn’t see any of this stuff, the blood everywhere, the thing and the eye and all this stuff. I had to consider what his perspective was. And then that kept happening with everyone [else’s] perspective throughout this entire ordeal. It’s pretty harrowing to take the time to really consider somebody else’s perspective.”

The actor revealed that a number of acting friends were in touch with him after the accident including MCU co-stars Chris Evans and Paul Rudd. Renner said that Rudd went further than merely visiting and sent him a mock Cameo video that wished “Jerry” a speedy recovery on his incident with a “snow blower.” Kimmy played the Rudd clip, which further reinforced the Ant-Man star’s national treasure status.

Renner said there were a few upsides to his accident. “My first conscious thought was like, ‘holy hell! My calendar is freed up for the rest of the year!” he joked saying that “my year was pretty jammed up until I got crushed.” He added that his time in the hospital and recovery allowed him to lose weight and give up a vice. “[The accident] was like a New Year’s resolution, so I did drop like 20 pounds, I quit smoking… it’s the easiest way to quit smoking.”