Jeremy Renner gives poignant reason he was 'pissed off' to be 'brought back' from snowplow accident
"It's a wonderful, wonderful relief to be removed from your body."

“I came back, I'm like, ‘Aww!’”
Countless people who have encountered a near-death experience, or NDE, have reported feeling incomprehensible levels of tranquility and freedom from pain. Which is, at the very least, an intriguing thought. As scary as death is, we can maybe take comfort in the fact that bliss beyond our wildest imagination might await us once we cross that threshold.
This certainly seems to be the case for Jeremy Renner. Following his nearly fatal snowplow accident in 2023, the Hawkeye actor has been getting candid about how it initially felt to return to his mortal coil. Turns out, it wasn't as great as the alternative.
Speaking to Kelly Ripa on a recent episode of her Let’s Talk podcast, Renner called going past the veil a “great relief.”
“It's a wonderful, wonderful relief to be removed from your body,” he told Ripa. “It is the most exhilarating peace you could ever feel. You don't see anything but what's in your mind's eye. Like, you're the atoms of who you are, the DNA, your spirit. It's the highest adrenaline rush, but the peace that comes with it, it's magnificent. It's so magical.”
The euphoria was so potent, in fact, that Renner “was so pissed off” when doctors resuscitated him.
“I came back, I'm like, ‘Aww!’” he recalled. “I saw the eyeball again, I’m like, ‘Oh, s---, I’m back,’ Saw my legs. I'm like, ‘Yeah, that's gonna hurt later.’ I'm like, ‘All right, let me continue to breathe.'"
Renner also had another poignant note to make. While many people who have had NDEs also remember seeing or sensing the presence of deceased loved ones, when asked by Ripa if he had such an occurrence, Renner replied, “You don't need to. That's a human experience.”
“Time is a human construct," he continued. “It's useless. It's not linear. It's not how it exists. It's just like the most remedial version of your spirit's existence is being on Earth. This is so remedial, language, all these things and blah, blah, blah… It's all knowing, all experiencing, all at the same time, all at once.”
Or course, not every NDE includes such positive, affirming sensations. According to Scientific American, they can also be “frightening, marked by intense terror, anguish, loneliness and despair,” though these types of NDEs might not receive as much press “because of shame, social stigma and pressure to conform to the prototype of the ‘blissful’ NDE.”
As the outlet noted, this could perhaps indicate that the quality of a person’s NDE—whether they go through heaven or hell before entering the great beyond—depends heavily on the stories that shape the individual’s mind.
And on a hopeful note, the research by and large seems to indicate that “the experience of death” frequently leads to “positive long-term psychological transformation and growth,” helping people to become more loving, compassionate, grateful, joy, and fulfillment.
It’s not exactly a subject that’s easy to measure and study, but from the countless stories we’ve heard just like Renner’s, maybe we can take solace in the very real possibility that there is more to life than the time we spend on this planet.
Listen to the full podcast episode below:
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.