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Scarlett Johansson shares reaction to seeing Jeremy Renner for first time after his accident

The actor traveled with “Avengers: Endgame” co-star Chris Evans to visit Renner in person.
/ Source: TODAY

Scarlett Johansson is sharing how her former “Avengers” co-stars supported Jeremy Renner after his snowplow accident in January, and detailed seeing Renner for the first time after the scary event.

The 38-year-old actor, who appeared on screen with Renner in multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe films, opened up to Variety about her reaction when she first heard he had been injured. 

“I was very upset,” she told the publication in an interview published on May 9. 

She was on set filming her upcoming film “Project Artemis” when she learned Renner had been run over by a snowplow. Although she could not be with him physically in the hospital, she still supported his recovery from afar. 

Johansson revealed she is in a group chat with the other five original “Avengers” cast members — Renner, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. — and that they all messaged each other a few days after Renner was hospitalized in the intensive care unit.  

“On the ‘Avengers’ text chain, we’re like, ‘OK, you beat us all. That’s it. You won,’” she recalled. 

She continued, “That’s like real superhero stuff. It’s unbelievable.”

In January, Renner was attempting to tow his nephew’s truck from a private road near his Reno, Nevada, residence when his snowplow slid down a hill and ran him over. The Pistenbully snowplow, which can weigh at least seven tons, broke more than 30 of his bones.

Following the accident, the “Hawkeye” actor started keeping fans updated on his progress on social media. In March, he began walking on a treadmill in March, returned to the red carpet for the premiere of his Disney+ docuseries “Rennervations” in April and earlier this month, he showed off his “miraculous” body in a workout video.

Multiple “Avengers: Endgame” cast members like Evans and Paul Rudd have reached out to Renner on social media to celebrate his recovery. But a few weeks ago, Johansson and Evans decided to check in on him in person. 

In her interview with Variety, the “Black Widow” star shared that she and Evans flew to Los Angeles together to see Renner. 

“I was honestly so f---ing happy to see him,” she said. “I didn’t know if I was ever going to see him again.”

When they arrived, Johansson saw the action star “thriving” and “in such an amazing space, mentally.”

She explained, “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.”

Johansson shared that the trio “laughed a lot” during their reunion.

Evans also spoke to Variety about the meetup. He said there were, “no tears at all.”

Instead, the three of them had, “a lot of laughs and smiles and hugs.”

The “Captain America” star praised Renner for his sunny disposition despite suffering serious injuries. 

“Leave it to Jeremy to take something this potentially tragic and turn it into something so inspiring,” Evans said. 

Since his accident, Renner has become the face of resilience and optimism. In the caption for his Instagram workout video uploaded on May 5, he wrote, “I’ve decided to push through the pain of progress (this damn shattered tibia) and take the new parts for a tiny test drive.”

He joked that he felt like the Tin Man with “all (his) new joints.” 

“Encouraged after this warm up to press on ( don’t tell my PT),” he said at the end of the caption and included a crying-laughing face emoji. 

The 52-year-old actor posted a follow-up Instagram clip that featured a video montage of how he has improved since he started physical therapy. 

“My PT made this for reference and to remember, you cannot walk unless you take one step at a time!” he wrote and added the hashtag “Onefootinfrontoftheother.”