Joe Rogan Experience #2312 - Jeremy Renner

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast.…

   1. NANarrator0:00

      (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast. Check it out.

   2. JRJoe Rogan0:04

      The Joe Rogan Experience.

   3. Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (rock music) What's happening, man?

   4. JRJeremy Renner0:14

      What's going on?

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:15

      It's great to see you.

   6. JRJeremy Renner0:16

      Yeah, good to be seen. (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:18

      (laughs) Boy, what a journey you've been on.

   8. JRJeremy Renner0:20

      Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:21

      Oof.

   10. JRJeremy Renner0:22

       Yeah, it's been a-

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:22

       I started listening to your audiobook. It was giving me anxiety.

   12. JRJeremy Renner0:25

       (laughs)

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:27

       (laughs)

   14. JRJeremy Renner0:27

       It gets better, right? (laughs) It takes a minute, but it, there's, there's a relief for the reader.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:32

       Well, the relief is-

   16. JRJeremy Renner0:33

       For the listener.

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:33

       ... seeing you healthy-

   18. JRJeremy Renner0:34

       (laughs)

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:34

       ... walking around.

   20. JRJeremy Renner0:35

       Well, the relief is also, we kinda know the end of the story, right?

   21. JRJoe Rogan0:39

       Yes.

   22. JRJeremy Renner0:39

       Before you go into it.

   23. JRJoe Rogan0:40

       Right.

   24. JRJeremy Renner0:40

       So then you can really kinda dive into the actual detailed narrative that I, I put out. Um-

   25. JRJoe Rogan0:45

       Yeah.

   26. JRJeremy Renner0:45

       There's no other way to do it. But, um, but yeah, it's, it's tough for... I mean, it's like I was... Like, my own... My sister, it took her a while to read, and anybody that was kind of involved in the incident, takes a minute. You know, it's... Look, it took, took me a long time to kinda get through it. Right?

   27. JRJoe Rogan0:59

       Yeah.

   28. JRJeremy Renner0:59

       It took s- It's anxious for me too. (laughs) So.

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:03

       So how long was the actual recov- Because you don't even walk with a limp. You're, you're walking-

   30. JRJeremy Renner1:07

       Yeah, yeah. It's quite... There's, there's, there's a lot... S- some things are pretty miraculous. Some things can be explained. Some t- And I tried to figure it out as I was writing the book, you know. A lot of people ask questions. I asked myself questions. Um, some things, uh, were on my own will. Some things were of, uh, otherworldly of some sort. Um, but yeah, I was given, you know... I was supposed to walk with a limp, because pretty much a lot of titanium, and then was certainly not running, and I'm doing far beyond all those things. S- Don't know exactly why. I can pontificate on why, and, you know...
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Uh... …

   1. JRJeremy Renner15:00

      right?

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:00

      Uh...

   3. JRJeremy Renner15:01

      (laughs)

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:01

      I've had friends that have had broken arms and it starts poking out of the bone.

   5. JRJeremy Renner15:04

      Yeah, yeah. It does too now.

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:06

      And they have to get another operation and get it removed.

   7. JRJeremy Renner15:08

      Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:08

      Yeah.

   9. JRJeremy Renner15:09

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:10

       So, how many p- different plates do you have?

   11. JRJeremy Renner15:14

       I, I think I got... Uh, there's only a couple in my face, and they went in, like, underneath my cheek. A- a plate for my, uh, orbital socket, and then for the cheekbone. They put, I think, a plate or two over there to hold that bone in place.

   12. JRJoe Rogan15:27

       Do you feel it?

   13. JRJeremy Renner15:28

       Um, I f- I feel the, the lack of, um, feeling in it. It's still, still numbness to that, this whole side. Because they had to cut all these nerve endings, right? To get in through your mouth. So even the side of my, um, face is a little slightly, a little, little, little numb-ish.

   14. JRJoe Rogan15:50

       And the rest of them, do you feel, like... How much do you feel in all your different bones and joints and all the different things that got repaired?

   15. JRJeremy Renner15:59

       Yeah, yeah. It's y-, it's, there's lots of scar tissue to work through all the time. Um, it's... What's great is like there's not any one spot. It's like it, it moves around. You know, even if you're not injured, it's like if you just twist your leg wrong and then your, it goes up into your hip, and then it's in your shoulder. It moves around your body, kind of, it moves it around. So you just kind of stay on top of it, and there's always something to, to work through, you know, in your body.

   16. JRJoe Rogan16:23

       Wow.

   17. JRJeremy Renner16:23

       You know? And it's just, you know... Uh, look, I already have to do it anyway. I'm 54. I'm, I'm gonna have to take, take care of my health, and I just have to make it a very central part of my life, so.

   18. JRJoe Rogan16:32

       And so now, do you have full range of motion, full mobility-

   19. JRJeremy Renner16:36

       Mm-hmm.

   20. JRJoe Rogan16:36

       ... everything is back to normal essentially?

   21. JRJeremy Renner16:38

       I don't know what normal is.

   22. JRJoe Rogan16:40

       Right (laughs) .

   23. JRJeremy Renner16:40

       Uh, you know (laughs) .

   24. JRJoe Rogan16:42

       (laughs) .

   25. JRJeremy Renner16:42

       Uh, I'm gonna be, you know, I, I feel like I'm, uh, maybe 110% just because spiritually and mentally, um, I'm so much better. I got so many gifts from dying and coming back that, yeah, I'm, I'm 150%. My body will always be... Look, my body's aging, so I have to fight against age. Well, recovery is age reversing. It's the same, same stuff that people are doing just to reverse age. I just do it just because it's my recovery, and I have to for the rest of my life just to prevent inflammation, um, discomfort and swelling, things like that.

   26. JRJoe Rogan17:16

       So, when you have so many broken bones and so many broken joints, what is the recovery like? Like, how do they even get you moving again?

   27. JRJeremy Renner17:25

       Day by day.

   28. JRJoe Rogan17:26

       Day by day?

   29. JRJeremy Renner17:27

       Yeah, instantly. As soon as I got home from the hospital, um, yeah, it was a PT there, and working to just move, keep things moving. You have to. Otherwise you lose it. You'll lock up or you'll lose it.

   30. JRJoe Rogan17:41

       Because seeing you walk around today in the studio, I would have no idea.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Right. …

   1. JRJeremy Renner30:00

      to like take a little fiver of Oxy to, to sleep on if you need it to mitigate some pain, just so I could sleep. Like, "Okay, maybe I'll do that if it happens." And I did once or twice or three times maybe after that moment. But I got through it, and I got off it. But I got off it because I cracked that tooth and that, I felt pain. Like that is like... That's not gonna let me sleep at all. It's a heartbeat in my brain. My face is just like throbbing, right, as you would for anybody.So I said, like, "Oh, that's... Then I don't need to take the pain meds." So make those my excuse to get off the pain meds.

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:31

      Right.

   3. JRJeremy Renner30:32

      Thankfully.

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:32

      'Cause if you're feeling pain and you're on the pain meds, then ****** really good.

   5. JRJeremy Renner30:34

      Yeah, I would have been on that shit much longer if I didn't crack that tooth.

   6. JRJoe Rogan30:37

      Wow.

   7. JRJeremy Renner30:38

      'Cause I wouldn't have the will or say, like, "Oh, let's get off this stuff."

   8. JRJoe Rogan30:42

      Yeah.

   9. JRJeremy Renner30:42

      Right? But it took that. I'm like, "Okay, well, I don't need it."

   10. JRJoe Rogan30:45

       I had knee surgery in '93 and they gave me something. I don't... It was either Percocet or Vicodin.

   11. JRJeremy Renner30:52

       Yeah, it was.

   12. JRJoe Rogan30:52

       I don't remember what it was, and I took it one time.

   13. JRJeremy Renner30:54

       You puke or anything?

   14. JRJoe Rogan30:54

       And I felt so bad.

   15. JRJeremy Renner30:56

       Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan30:56

       I felt so stupid.

   17. JRJeremy Renner30:58

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan30:58

       I remember being in my apartment in New York just feeling so dumb and just thinking, "I'd rather be in pain."

   19. JRJeremy Renner31:03

       Yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan31:04

       And so one day, I took it one day and I'm like, "That's it, I'm done."

   21. JRJeremy Renner31:08

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan31:08

       And then I sold it. I sold my-

   23. JRJeremy Renner31:10

       (laughs)

   24. JRJoe Rogan31:10

       ... uh, pills to this guy Jeff at the pool hall.

   25. JRJeremy Renner31:13

       That's a dirtbag. (laughs)

   26. JRJoe Rogan31:14

       He was this dirtbag guy-

   27. JRJeremy Renner31:15

       (laughs)

   28. JRJoe Rogan31:15

       ... that I used to hang out with at the pool hall. He had a bandana and long hair. He was a hippie. He always sold drugs. And I sold them to him. (laughs)

   29. JRJeremy Renner31:25

       (laughs) He's like, "I'll take it. What do you got?" Yeah, yeah. "What do you got?"

   30. JRJoe Rogan31:27

       And, uh, then I had surgery again. I've had a bunch of different surgeries for jujitsu injuries, martial arts injuries.
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Mm-hmm. …

   1. JRJeremy Renner45:00

      you're going to the sauna. It just doesn't take so long to heat up or anything. You just get in that thing and cook.

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:05

      Mm-hmm.

   3. JRJeremy Renner45:05

      It's amazing. And you, it's amazing that even like an LED light like that, or infrared light could, could warm you up so much, but it's intense. I love it.

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:13

      And then after a while do you start lifting weights?

   5. JRJeremy Renner45:16

      Yeah, yeah. I started, I started training, um, as soon as I got the, when I started doing blood work, 'cause my hormone, my, my testosterone was at 200.

   6. JRJoe Rogan45:25

      Wow.

   7. JRJeremy Renner45:25

      My hemoglobin was at two. Like, everything was just-

   8. JRJoe Rogan45:28

      Your body's just wrecked.

   9. JRJeremy Renner45:29

      Oh, it was wrecked. And now I'm going back to work.

   10. JRJoe Rogan45:32

       Phew.

   11. JRJeremy Renner45:32

       So, I had to attack while I was falling asleep during workouts that I'm trying to do, or whatever. (laughs)

   12. JRJoe Rogan45:38

       Hmm.

   13. JRJeremy Renner45:38

       I'm try- they, they only schedule me to maybe six hours a day on set, 'cause I, you know, I fall asleep in the middle of a scene.

   14. JRJoe Rogan45:44

       Oh my God.

   15. JRJeremy Renner45:44

       They're like, "Who's gonna wake that fucker up?" (laughs)

   16. JRJoe Rogan45:49

       (laughs) Wow.

   17. JRJeremy Renner45:50

       Oh, man. So, yeah, so I had to really work on that. And once I got, once, it's really, I think it was really the testosterone. Once I got that level to like 700, 800 constantly, then I had more energy.

   18. JRJoe Rogan46:00

       Mm-hmm.

   19. JRJeremy Renner46:01

       And that allowed me more energy in the gym. And once I had that, that got me more energy. That, that, so it just started feeding upon itself. I was doing blood, blood panels every week and, uh, just saw progress, progress, progress. And then I just started lifting, and I had so much energy, and I felt better the more I lifted and moved and stretched. And I just kept, it just kept compiling, just like most things in life. And it got easier, like most things. Um, with oxygen chamber, that's better when you can pile on it. Same with red light stuff. Noth- nothing, no one time that anything's gonna do anything, but if you do it often enough and make it a central part of your life. It's like, "Oh, I was on fire. It's great." And I started running and-

   20. JRJoe Rogan46:37

       So you can run now?

   21. JRJeremy Renner46:38

       Yeah, yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan46:39

       Wow.

   23. JRJeremy Renner46:39

       Yeah, yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan46:40

       For distance?

   25. JRJeremy Renner46:41

       Yeah, I mean, I don't know how, where I'm running to. I, I was never a distance guy.

   26. JRJoe Rogan46:44

       (laughs)

   27. JRJeremy Renner46:44

       I was always a sprinter, right? I was a sprinter from high school and college, and, um, um, yeah, so-

   28. JRJoe Rogan46:51

       Does it hurt when you run?

   29. JRJeremy Renner46:53

       It, it feels like if you're ... (laughs) If you have a, you know, if, if you've ever been in a car and you're on the freeway and it has a misalignment or-

   30. JRJoe Rogan47:02

       Yeah.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:09:54

   Mm-hmm. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan1:00:00

      bullshit. And so that's in your head.

   2. JRJeremy Renner1:00:02

      Mm-hmm.

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:00:02

      And there's this softness to existence. And so everything that comes your way is overwhelming. Somebody said this once, and it's like a great quote that I remember, "The worst thing that's ever happened to you is the worst thing that's ever happened to you, regardless of how small that is." So if the worst thing that's ever happened to you is like ... I remember, uh, my girlfriend broke up with me when I was 18 and I was like, "Oh." I couldn't believe it. I thought I was gonna be with her forever. I was so sad.

   4. JRJeremy Renner1:00:30

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:00:30

      And then I think back, like, "Oh my God, that was the best thing that ever happened." She was a nightmare. (laughs)

   6. JRJeremy Renner1:00:35

      (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan1:00:35

      But back then I thought (laughs) ... I was probably a nightmare, too. But back then-

   8. JRJeremy Renner1:00:39

      (laughs)

   9. JRJoe Rogan1:00:39

      ... I thought, like, life was over, right?

   10. JRJeremy Renner1:00:42

       Yeah, of course.

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:00:42

       Which is, uh ... But you have to get through that in order to appreciate life-

   12. JRJeremy Renner1:00:46

       Yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:00:46

       ... to really appreciate life.

   14. JRJeremy Renner1:00:47

       Yeah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:00:47

       But we have this bizarre narrative in our head that you shouldn't suffer.

   16. JRJeremy Renner1:00:52

       I know. It ... Where, where does that come from?

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:00:55

       I can't ... Well, because it used to be so difficult to live.

   18. JRJeremy Renner1:00:58

       Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:00:58

       'Cause ... And so you would try to find a time where it wasn't difficult. And so then it became the thing that everybody focused on-

   20. JRJeremy Renner1:01:05

       Yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:01:05

       Focused on chilling, relaxing.

   22. JRJeremy Renner1:01:07

       Yeah, yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:01:08

       You know? And the people that I know that don't do anything and don't take any chances and don't take any risks and don't exercise and just seek comfort are the most miserable-

   24. JRJeremy Renner1:01:17

       Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:01:17

       ... anxiety-ridden people I know.

   26. JRJeremy Renner1:01:19

       Well, that's ... Yeah. They're pretty much dead inside, right?

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:01:21

       Yeah.

   28. JRJeremy Renner1:01:21

       It's complacency, and it's ... That's the definition of complacency-

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:01:24

       But again-

   30. JRJeremy Renner1:01:25

       ... in my mind.

Episode duration: 2:12:25