When it comes to his friendships, Jeremy Renner is all in.
In a new interview with Men’s Health for the publication’s July/August issue, the “Avengers” actor opened up about the “real” bond he shares with his Marvel co-stars.
“Oh, f— yeah, it’s a real thing — it’s not just for Instagram. We f—n’ hate that s—,” Renner said about his co-stars including Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and more. “No, we have a family chat and have for a long time. When you work with people — look, we all went through a culturally significant experience together.”
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“And there’s divorces and marriages and babies; a lot of stuff happened in these 12 years,” he continued. “In the films, we look like we’re at a costume party, and there’s ridiculous props and we’re doing these ridiculous things, but it’s also beautiful because we’re all connected.”
“There’s a brotherhood or sisterhood or whatever the heck you want to call it,” he added. “I just call it love. I love every one of them. I’d rather go to jail with [Robert] Downey [Jr.] than go do something amazing by myself. I’d rather get in a car crash with [Chris] Evans.”
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One major life event in which his friends were by his side was his 2023 snowplow incident. On Jan. 1, 2023, Renner was airlifted to a hospital after he was run over by his own Snowcat while attempting to tow a vehicle stuck in the snow near his home in the Sierra Nevada mountains. He suffered more than 30 broken bones, blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries.
“What a f—ing disaster, dude,” Renner told Men’s Health of his recovery. “Showering, going to the bathroom — everything was a disaster.”
He added, “They give you medications so you don’t go to the bathroom, so you get constipated. And you pee in a jar. It was awful. That’s when you know things aren’t going great — you’re peeing in a plastic jug. It took me 17 minutes to get out of bed.”
“There’s a lot of people that love me. And I had no idea,” he continued. “I had to learn how to receive all this love, and it’s not easy. From people you don’t even know, even. Why is this accident such a thing? But then I said, ‘F—, stop asking why. Just receive it.’ I was famous for having a bow and arrow; now I’m famous for overcoming something as a man.”
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The “Mayor of Kingstown” star showed off his recovery efforts and went shirtless on the cover of the publication.
“Four months of abuse,” Renner said of his workouts with personal trainer Cat Cantella. “Physical, mental, emotional. But I feel great and I look great!”
Renner started at-home rehabilitation prior to returning to Pittsburgh to film “Kingstown,” but admitted he was barely prepared for the first day of filming in a cemetery where temperatures didn’t reach above 40 degrees.
“I was pretty f—ing fragile when we started on Jan. 8. We’re walking around on ice, and I have no energy,” Renner said. “I was falling asleep. But I think it’ll be the best season yet because of it. Don’t get me wrong, Mike’s still Mike — he’s still the guy you want as your friend. But it’s more emotional, because I’m more emotional.”
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Renner admitted to almost pulling out of the show completely due to his mental health.
“Because, dude, the last thing I wanted to do — to be honest with you, I almost pulled shoot and doing this show — was fiction,” he said. “Like, ‘Oh wait, I don’t give a s— about fiction!’ Bulls— words and bulls— stories and bulls— character. It’s all bulls—. I gotta live in real reality here, because these bones and these joints — and I gotta go say fake lines and fake words and pretend to be… what? I got no time to f—ing pretend, man!”
He added, “So here’s how I shifted it, because I only have control of my perspective: I’m coming to Pittsburgh to recover in my body and get better every f—ing day, and I’m gonna do this show on the side. Instead of it being the other way around.”
Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright contributed to this post.
