Actor Jeremy Renner is returning to TV screens for the first time since his harrowing, near-fatal snowplow accident last January.
Renner will return for the third season of the hit Paramount+ series “Mayor of Kingstown,” in which he stars.
At one point, the series appeared doomed.
The 53-year-old actor was operating a 14,300-pound snowcat on his Reno, Nevada, property on New Year’s Day last year when the unthinkable happened — Renner was crushed by it.
He suffered 30 broken bones and organ damage, and one of his eyes popped out of his skull, NBC News reported.
Miraculously, Renner was released from the hospital after fewer than three weeks.
But that was when the real work began. The “Avengers” actor has spent most of the past year in therapy.
On Jan. 10, he returned to the set of “Kingtown” — and he admitted on his Instagram page he was anxious about it.
“Day one on set … nervous today,” Renner wrote. “Hope this works out [so that] I can ACTUALLY pull this off for our production and more importantly the fans.”
Renner, who now has a metallic rib cage and metal plates in his head and face, expounded on the emotions of returning to work in an interview with People magazine that was published on Sunday.
“I don’t know if I’m looking forward to it,” he said of filming the latest season of the Taylor Sheridan-produced show.
“I try to just do everything kind of step by step here,” the actor said. “That’s one foot in front of the other. Then you’re walking.”
But despite his nerves, Renner also explained that he is eager to find a sense of normalcy following more than a year of recovery.
“I think I’m excited when I’m there and I get in a rhythm there,” he said. “I’m excited about the character and, of course, all the people involved and all that in the storyline, but for me, I’m just tentative of confidence in work.”
The blue-collar action star has been transparent about his recovery on social media, frequently updating his followers about his physical and emotional state.
There has been no shortage of support from fans.
According to NBC News, Renner was run over by the snowplow when it came close to hitting his nephew and he moved the boy to safety.
