Jeremy Renner Says “Mayor of Kingstown ”Crew 'Didn't Know What Version of Jeremy Would Come Back' After Accident (Exclusive)
"I was not in really great shape, to be honest," Renner says of his condition after his near-fatal snow plow accident in 2023
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When Jeremy Renner returned to work one year after his near-fatal snow plow incident, he was understandably nervous.
The Mayor of Kingstown star, 53, had a daunting task ahead of him when filming for the Paramount+ show's third season resumed in Jaunary, and he tells PEOPLE he had to learn to be “okay” with failure as he returned to the job.
“In the beginning, I think because I hadn't seen anybody — and these are all people I worked with for two seasons already — I hadn't really got to talk to anybody,” Renner says. “They didn't know what version of Jeremy would come back. I was not in really great shape, to be honest with you. I really wasn't.”
Dennis P. Mong Jr./Paramount +
After being crushed by the snow plow, Renner broke more than 30 bones in his body and underwent multiple surgeries. He spent the better part of 2023 in physical therapy, relearning how to walk and eventually how to run.
"There'll be nothing normal or as it was prior to the accident," he says. "I'm okay with that. I accept it."
While he previously told PEOPLE he was "nervous" about returning to set, he can now say he's grateful for the way his fellow Mayor of Kingstown colleagues handled his homecoming.
“I actually kind of needed to be treated with kid gloves. I had to physically lean on people, emotionally lean on them, and they took care of me,” he admits. “I did my best to take care of them and get through the show as best we could, and we worked together and made it happen.”
Related: Jeremy Renner Says He's 'Accepted' That He'll Be in 'Recovery' for 'the Rest of My Life' (Exclusive)
In an exclusive Paramount+ featurette shared with PEOPLE, Renner reveals that he was actually able to do his own stunt work for the third season — a feat that shocked nobody more than himself.
"I wasn't sure I was gonna be capable of it, but in the first episode, we were surprised. No injuries," he recalls, also noting that the stunt work "was pretty violent."
And, work-life aside, Renner remains committed to getting better every day, and he says he's relied on the "power of perspective" to keep him motivated.
“It's pretty powerful. I could look at this as a really terrible accident and terrible situation and a lot of things changed and I ruined my family's life and scarred my daughter," he says, referencing his only child, Ava, 11. "I can look at things really, really negatively, or not."
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
Jeremy Renner at the premiere of "Rennervations" held at Westwood Regency Village Theatre on April 11, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)So, while the actor chooses to stay positive, he ironically admits that he's not "an optimistic person" by nature.
"I'm not the annoying, super optimistic person you're on vacation with [where] you're like, 'Dude, relax,'" he says with a laugh. "It's more [being] the realist, but the reality in my perspective is beautiful."
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Season 3 of Mayor of Kingstown premieres June 2 on Paramount+.
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