Jeremy Renner takes on first film role since snowplow accident in Tahoe

Jeremy Renner has taken on his first film role since his near-fatal snow plowing accident.

The Marvel star will appear in the third “Knives Out” film, the Hollywood Reporter confirmed on Friday, May 31.

Renner will star in the upcoming film “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” alongside previously confirmed cast members Daniel Craig, Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Josh O’Connor and Cailee Spaeny.

Rian Johnson once again serves as writer, director and co-producer, together with his T-Street partner Ram Bergman, who also worked on the first two films.

Renner, an Oscar-nominated Modesto native who has played Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2011, is on the mend after a near-fatal snow plowing accident at his home near Mount Rose Ski Tahoe ski resort in January 2023 that left him in critical condition and broke more than 38 bones.

During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Thursday, May 30, the 53-year-old said one of the most tragic aspects of the accident, which occurred while he was trying to save his nephew from being run over, was the memory loss he suffered.

“I even forgot about my daughter. I was so confused after that accident,” Renner Clarkson said. “But when I was taken off life support a few weeks later and came home, my sister told me that Ava was there. That’s when everything became clear to me.”

Renner described his 11-year-old daughter, whom he has with ex-wife Sonni Pacheco, as his “life force.”

“I saw the fear on my daughter’s face for the first time,” he said. “The reality of what had happened really hit me. What I had done to my daughter, what I had done to my nephew, my whole family, I really hit home. So I asked her to wait for me.”

He said he explained to her, “It’s only 38 broken bones, honey, and they’re all going to heal. And I promise if you wait for me, I’ll be better, I’ll be faster, I’ll be stronger than you’ve ever seen before. I promise.”

Renner added that the incident inspired him to write a song called “Wait,” which he recorded with friends.

“We all wanted to process the incident in some way,” he said. “Everyone who cared for me before the accident was going through a lot too. So putting it into music was very cathartic for us and even for my daughter because she was very involved in it.”

In February, Renner was seen cheering on the San Francisco 49ers at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas. He later made one of his first on-camera appearances since his accident at the People’s Choice Awards at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, where he was reunited with Marvel actor Tom Hiddleston from “Loki.”

At the awards ceremony, Renner received a standing ovation as he presented Billie Eilish with the TV Performance of the Year award for her role in the Prime Video miniseries “Swarm.”

A year after the accident, Renner also filmed several episodes of the Paramount+ drama series “Mayor of Kingstown,” which is scheduled to premiere in June.

Production on “Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man” is set to begin soon and release is planned for 2025.

Reach Aidin Vaziri: [email protected]