Jeremy Renner Makes Surprise Appearance at 2024 People's Choice Awards: 'Feels Good to Be Back'
"This year’s been a heck of a journey," the 'Mayor of Kingstown' star said during Sunday's ceremony, referring to recovering from a near-fatal slowplow accident
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Jeremy RennerJeremy Renner helped his fellow Marvel star Simu Liu kick off the 2024 People’s Choice Awards.
More that 13 months after a snow plow accident that left Renner in critical condition, he took the stage at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, on Sunday to introduce the first award of the night.
“Gotta say, it feels good to be back,” Renner, 53, told the audience after walking out to thunderous applause. “This year’s been a heck of a journey and I’m happy to be here with you, the fans. You guys are the best. You guys really brought this year. You broke records. You turned movies into movements. We heard you all loud and clear, we heard you.”
Matt Winkelmeyer/GA/The Hollywood Reporter/Getty
The dad of 10-year-old daughter Ava then turned to introducing the nominees for TV performance of the year.
“Right now I get the privilege of celebrating the most powerful movie performances on screen,” Renner continued. “So, are you ready for the first award of the night?”
Renner announced that Billie Eilish beat out Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story's Adjoa Andoh, Ayo Edebiri from The Bear, The Morning Show's Jon Hamm, Matt Bomer of Fellow Travelers, Only Murders in the Building's Meryl Streep, Steven Yeun from Beef and Storm Reid of The Last of Us for her performance in Swarm.
As Eilish, 22, made her way to the stage to accept her award, Renner stepped back and hugged his Avengers costar Tom Hiddleston — who gave him a standing ovation earlier — as he headed backstage. Hiddleston, 43, went on to accept the sci-fi/fantasy show of the year for Loki.
Jeremy Renner in the building presenting the award for The TV Performance of the year to our winner Billie Eilish! #PCAs pic.twitter.com/zNfkeOOvh7
— People's Choice (@peopleschoice) February 19, 2024
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Renner spent more than two weeks in the hospital undergoing multiple surgeries following a near-fatal snow plow accident that took place on Jan. 1, 2023, and left him with more than 30 broken bones.
The Mayor of Kingstown star told PEOPLE last month that he felt “blessed” today.
“I certainly got a lot of callousness squashed out of me by that machine,” he said. “I’ve never been bitter, but always maybe a little more callous, a little bit more tough. And I just think those calluses are just scraped off me at this point. Literally, I feel pretty open and wonderfully sensitive and youthful.”
The Oscar nominee credited his loved ones with motivating him to recover.
“Everything kind of just went right,” Renner said. “Obviously I had a lot of tenacity, I had a lot of support, a lot of reason to recover. That is really special. There’s a lot of people that don’t have as much, [don’t have] those things to live for.”
Renner joked that he “didn’t realize that many people gave a crap about me that much.”
“Maybe Hawkeye, they did,” he continued, referring to his Marvel character. “[But] just me as a person, it’s a different thing, you know what I mean?”
Related: See Every Star Arriving at the People's Choice Awards 2024
Renner marked one year of his ICU release earlier this year with a sentimental Instagram post.
"I was reminded that love, good will, hard work and a legion of good humans are getting me through every day … thank you , bless you," he wrote on Jan. 16. "And as always, I hold my promise to be better, be stronger, and grow to surpass potential…. Bless you all ❤️🙏🏼❤️"
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The 2024 People's Choice Awards are airing live on NBC, E! and Peacock.
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