Renner was injured and hospitalized following a snowplow accident in January.
Scarlett Johansson is detailing her visit with Jeremy Renner following his near-fatal snowplow accident in January.
In a new interview with Variety, Johansson emotionally recalled visiting the Rennervations star, telling the outlet that she was unsure if she'd ever see him again after the brutal accident left him injured and hospitalized.
Renner was crushed by a snowplow near his home in the Mt. Rose Highway area of Reno, Nevada, on New Year's Day. The Marvel actor was trying to rescue his nephew after his car got stuck in the snow. He was airlifted to a hospital where he underwent several procedures, including chest surgery to repair the myriad of bones broken during the accident.
"I was honestly so f**king happy to see him. I didn't know if I was ever going to see him again. To not only see him again but to see him thriving and in such an amazing space, mentally," Johansson shares. "He's a very spiritual person in general and a very soulful person. And you can see that in his work. It comes through. He has such a depth to him. And I just was so happy to see that he is full of life and light, and he's also hilarious. We laughed a lot."
Chris Evans, who was also on hand for the visit, described the mood when the trio gathered.
"No tears at all. A lot of laughs and smiles and hugs," he says. "Leave it to Jeremy to take something this potentially tragic and turn it into something so inspiring."
As for how she heard about the news, Johansson said she was shooting an upcoming movie for Apple alongside Channing Tatum -- Project Artemis -- when she woke up to the news that her Avengers co-star was nearly killed.
"I was very upset," she recalls. But much like his inspiring spirit, Renner’s prognosis went from dire to hopeful, even leaving room for a few jokes about how the 52-year-old actor emerged as the real superhero among his MCU castmates.
"On the Avengers text chain, we're like, 'OK, you beat us all. That's it. You won,'" Johansson says. "That's like real superhero stuff. It’s unbelievable."
In the months following the accident, Renner has documented his recovery -- from sharing an impressive video of him showing his progress as he ran at full speed and did half squats, to just this Saturday, where he shared a video of himself walking.
"My PT made this for reference and to remember, you cannot walk unless you take one step at a time! #onefootinfrontoftheother," Renner wrote next to the video shared on Instagram.
The video begins with Renner walking using the assistance of a walker as a person pushes a wheelchair close behind him. As the clip -- which was filmed from the waist down to show off his feet -- continues, fans can see Renner go from walking with assistance, to moving with a balance support band, walking on the treadmill, and walking with a cane in his hand.
Showing off his final level of recovery, the video ends with Renner doing a playful runway strut toward the camera and away from the frame -- with no support at all.
Talking about his recovery to ET while promoting his show, Rennervations, in March, Renner said, "A lot of my recovery was based on this show and setting the intention for me to be upright and walking and out of the bed for this show," Renner said. "And obviously for my daughter. [My recovery] affected so many people, my family, my friends, and the show is a great representation of that."
For more on Renner and his recovery, check out the video below.
RELATED CONTENT:
