Jeremy Renner "bullied his body" into surviving the injuries from his snowplough accident

Jeremy told The Guardian newspaper: "I was bullying my body into thinking it wasn't that bad and my mind was overcoming the greatest odds it's ever come up against. My mind was saying, 'Nah!', it's part stubbornness. 'I don't want to lose this battle, this game', but the deeper part, the zoomed-out part, is I had so much to live for. I had a bunch of people waiting for me to go skiing!

"I didn't want to let them down. That became such a big thing."

The Hawkeye star was unable to walk for two months after the accident but revealed that he only has a small number of scars as a result of the surgery he had.

Renner said: " I have a bunch of little scars, but only from the surgery to save my body. The whole leg is titanium from the knee down to the ankle."

The actor explained that his mouth continues to be in considerable pain.

He said: "My mouth is complete chaos.

"It looks fine, but when I bite down it feels as if I'm going to break all my teeth."

Jeremy discussed how is spoken to differently by people following his accident and thinks that others can relate to him now.

He explained: "There's a beautiful intimacy and openness and vulnerability and kindness and thoughtfulness I get from people now, instead of just taking their deserved selfie. It's a different human exchange. I think it's given them a pathway. They feel, 'He's a human just like I am.'"

Renner - who has daughter Ava, 12, with his ex-wife Sonni Pacheco - explained that the accident has made him more determined to give back to others, as showcased in his work providing support for vulnerable children.

The Bourne Legacy actor said: "That's where the accident really shifted my focus. I can still go to work, but my primary focus is to give back and help in any way I can. That's way more fulfilling than anything else I've done, outside of bringing up my own child.

"Being able to put a smile on these kids' faces and share that joy with them and share the growth, I can't think of anything more rewarding."