Jeremy Runner credited his new Disney+ docuseries “Rennervations” with giving him focus during his recovery from his devastating snowplow accident, he told the audience at the Los Angeles premiere on Tuesday night.
Although the globe-trotting series was filmed long before his Jan. 1 accident, he insisted from his hospital bed that the “Rennervations” premiere date should not be delayed. “It was the third or fourth day,” recalled producer Romilda De Luca, “The first thing he said was, ‘Don’t move the show.’”
“A big part of my recovery was the show,” he told the audience at the Regency Village Theater in Westwood. “It set a big milestone for me to get better, to make sure that our hard work was not for naught. I ran my damn self over, right? Like there’s no alternative. To me, it was easy because I had somewhere to go and somewhere to point and I had a lot of love, man.”
Renner thanked his family and his 10-year-old daughter Ava for their unwavering support, getting choked up as he said, “Some of the people who were part of saving my life and keeping me alive to breathe are here. A lot of people are here to support the show and a lot of people are here to support the living part of this.”
Some of the recipients of a “Rennervations” vehicle were also in attendance, including staff and kids from Chicago’s The Base, who received a mobile music studio in the series’ first episode.
Jimmy Kimmel, who moderated the Q&A, noted that the show’s themes of a group coming together to build something extraordinary “parallels what you’re going through personally.”
“You just have to put one foot in front of the other and then you’ll walk,” said Renner, who used a scooter to zip down the aisle for the Q&A and a cane on the red carpet. “[That’s] where I’m at in my life now, physically, but it just takes one step to do the next one. And I want that to be an inspiration for people because anyone can do it. And that’s why I’m doing the show.”
Renner laughed at Kimmel’s joke that he “got in a fight with a snowman in Reno or something,” and even poked fun at himself.
When Kimmel asked what was going to happen to the snowplow that nearly killed him, the actor admitted, “My mom wants to light it on fire and have a big old party. [But] I love this thing and it’s a necessity with these giant snowstorms. I just need to learn how to drive it better.”
The first three episodes of “Rennervations” are now streaming on Disney+.
