Jeremy Renner arrived in Rome with a story to tell, but above all with a new awareness of the meaning of life, work, and human connections. A two-time Oscar nominee, an actor who has played characters who left a mark—from the explosive technician in The Hurt Locker to Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, in the Marvel universe, up to the lead in Mayor of Kingstown—the actor was a guest on Alice in the City for a masterclass dedicated to the craft of acting. Before that, however, he met the press to recount some of the most significant moments of his career and dwell, above all, on the experience that changed his life. The gravely serious January 2023 accident, followed by a long and complex recovery. A story Renner chose to tell in the first person in My Next Breath: A Memoir, the book presented during the Rome encounter, but still unpublished in Italy. It is a tale of pain and rebirth, but also a reflection on the consequences of one’s actions, on solidarity, and on the need to relearn how to look at the world.
Jeremy Renner after the incident: “What happened to me really broke me”
Writing the memoir was not an immediate decision. Renner explained that he initially resisted the idea of putting in print what happened, only to understand that sharing his experience could have meaning for others. Not only for those who might have gone through a similar situation, but especially for the people who stood by him during the recovery. “Every action we take has a ripple effect,” the actor said, emphasizing how the consequences of the accident did not stop at his physical suffering. “Even when I physically recovered, the emotional and spiritual consequences of what happened remained, not only for me, but also for the people who love me.”
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His family, friends, and all those who stood by him during the ordeal lived through those dramatic moments together with him. For this reason, telling his own story became also a way to acknowledge their pain and to thank those who contributed to his recovery. “I felt a responsibility: to pay homage to all the love and help I received. About 150 doctors, surgeons, and people who prayed for me from all over the world. The impact of what happened was enormous.” The book thus took on a cathartic function. “What happened to me really broke me. We all think we know how life works, that we have control, perhaps even that we are more aware than others. Then something happens that forces you to start learning again,” he reflected.
“Heroism was not an act of heroism. It was an act of love”
When asked about the gesture he made during the incident, Renner rejected the comparison between his experience and the heroism of the characters he has portrayed on screen. For him, what matters is not the image of the superhero, but the strength of love, capable of pushing a person to act without calculating the consequences. “I don’t think it was an act of heroism. It was an act of love”, he stated, then shifting the conversation to the work he does with children and young people in disadvantaged conditions, an experience that has taught him a lot about the meaning of resilience. It is from these kids that Renner says he learned a fundamental lesson, in a world that often seems dominated by conflicts and divisions. “They are the ones who make me continue to believe in humanity.” And if he were to return to playing Hawkeye or another superhero, he would carry with him what he learned from them: the ability to endure, without losing one’s humanity.
The return to the set: “I needed fiction to escape from reality”
For an actor used to morphing into very different characters, returning to acting after the incident proved to be an unexpected challenge. During his recovery, Renner found himself immersed in a concrete and painful reality, made of surgeries, rehabilitation, breathing difficulties, and the need to relearn how to perform everyday gestures. In that context, stepping into a fictional story was no longer as straightforward. “I had trouble pretending while my life had become so deeply real,” he recalled. “My bones, the titanium in my face, in my legs and ribs, the recovery, the breath, having to relearn how to walk: all of this was reality, not fiction.”
Going back in front of the cameras, reading a script, and delivering lines written for a character meant facing a dimension that, for a while, had seemed distant from his own experience. The turning point came with the return to the set of the third season of Mayor of Kingstown, a series that is intense and far from any notion of lightness. And yet, it was precisely that work that allowed him to rediscover something he needed. Acting became a space to distance himself from the harshness of the convalescence, at least for a few hours, and to recover the freedom of imagination.
“My health comes first”: how Jeremy Renner’s priorities have changed
The accident also deeply changed the way the actor views his daily life. Many things that previously occupied a central place in his life lost importance, giving way to more essential priorities. “My health comes first. Taking care of myself allows me to have a positive impact on the rest of my life,” Renner explained, recounting how he learned to let go of what isn’t truly necessary. A lesson he summed up with a simple image: the safety instructions on airplanes—in case of emergency, you must put on your own oxygen mask first, and only then help others. “Earlier I would have thought to put the mask on the child first. Now I understand that you have to be in a position to help others.” Taking care of oneself, then, does not mean shirking responsibility toward those around us, but putting oneself in a condition to be present for others.
My Next Breath could become a film
Renner has not ruled out that a similar story could be told on screen, but he clarified that he does not necessarily want to portray his own personal experience. The value of a story, he believes, lies in its ability to cross the boundaries of individual experience. “I believe universal stories can have a huge impact,” he explained, invoking the cinema’s tradition of drawing from mythology and narrative heritage. Regarding directing, Renner joked about having a director’s mind, but not enough time to devote to a film project. The reason is simple: his daughter, who accompanied him on this Rome trip, is the priority he does not want to give up. “I have a mind for directing, but I don’t have the time of a director. Making a film requires years of one’s life, and I don’t want to give up three years with my daughter. She is my priority.” Perhaps this is the most important awareness that Jeremy Renner carries with him to Rome: after having endured an experience that forced him to restart, the value of things is no longer measured solely by professional success or milestones achieved. What matters is what remains, what binds us to others, and the possibility of continuing to learn, even when you think you have already learned everything. In the meantime, we will see him very soon on television in the fifth and final season of Mayor of Kingstown, arriving January 15, 2027, exclusively on Paramount+.
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