For Jeremy Renner, back to his Paramount+ series Mayor of Kingstown after a devastating snowplow accident in January 2023 was – literally – an important step in his recovery.
“I knew how exhausting it is, even when I’m completely healthy,” he told Yahoo Entertainment about starring in and executive producing the series, which begins its third season on June 2. “I can walk maybe 100 meters normally. But what is my endurance? My endurance was worthless.”
On January 1, 2023, the Mayor of Kingstown star, 53, who is also known for his Hawkeye role in Marvel’s Avengers franchise, was run over by his 14,000-pound weight. snow plow at his home in Nevada.
Renner was airlifted to the hospital and suffered multiple broken bones, chest trauma and a collapsed lung. Just getting back on two legs would be a long road.
After a solid year of physical therapy and recovery, the Oscar-nominated actor and father of one began production on the film The Royal City crime drama, which centers on a family of power brokers in Michigan who work as mediators between the local jail, law enforcement and gangs.
Renner wondered “How do I get back” a year after the accident and said he realized the show itself could be a motivator.
“This is my ‘coming out of the gate,’” he said. “Stop just now doing recovery and just going out and living, doing life things. And let that be part of the recovery.”
In January 2024, Renner rejoined the production and is now set to launch Season 3 just five months later. He credits the show itself and its dedication to character Mike McLusky, aka the titular mayor, for helping him on that journey.
“You just have to rip off the band-aid… and go for it”
While he admits that his work on the show takes a lot of effort and he has to do a lot, Renner also said that he has had a lot of support from his team.
“I had a lot of people helping, who listened to my body as much as I had to listen to my body. And we did it as a unit. It took all of us to get through it,” he said.
“You just have to rip the band-aid off and go for it,” he added. ‘Like everything, you have to be brave enough. What should I do, just fail?”
Failure was not an option for Renner. He knew that the show – and its future – affected more people than just him.
‘Then everyone will no longer have a job. That’s stupid,” he said. “And we’re not going to let that happen, especially after the long lull that a lot of people have had with the strikes – the writers’ strike, the actors’ strike – and there’s a lot of people who have been unemployed for a while. a long time. So that was also very important to me: getting people back to work. And important for me to get back on my feet.”
A “safe landing spot”
The show itself, which does not shy away from violence, has been called ‘dark’ by critics.
“I don’t disagree with that,” Renner said. “I like dark. But my argument is always the safe landing place for our audience. For me, when I look at it, I’m like, I need time to just breathe away from the chaos – the death, the destruction, the fires, explosions, all this stuff, right? Give us a reason to care more, fall for our characters more, or feel more for our main players. Well, in season 3 I think we’ll get a lot more of that.
How is the actor feeling now?
“You feel strong, you feel happy,” he said, “and proud.”
Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 begins streaming on Paramount+ on June 2.
