Scarlett Johansson has detailed her emotional visit with pal Jeremy Renner as he continues to recover from a near-fatal snow plow accident.
The actress, 38, who was recently spotted with husband Colin Jost in New York, has revealed she and fellow Avenger Chris Evans took a secret trip to check up on their longtime friend in April.
The Black Widow star showcased her glamorous side in a photo shoot for Variety, revealing a large rose themed back tattoo in a 1950s pinup inspired black dress.
‘I was honestly so f**king happy to see him. I didn’t know if I was ever going to see him again,’ the Black Widow star told Variety.
‘To not only see him again but to see him thriving and in such an amazing space, mentally. He’s a very spiritual person in general and a very soulful person,’ she explained.
‘And you can see that in his work. It comes through. He has such a depth to him.’
Secret trip: Scarlett Johansson has detailed her emotional visit with pal Jeremy Renner as he continues to recover from a near-fatal snow plow accident
‘And I just was so happy to see that he is full of life and light, and he’s also hilarious. We laughed a lot.’
When she learned of the accident Scarlett said she ‘I was very upset,’ but she and her fellow Avengers, Chris Evans, Robert Downey, Jr, Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo tried to cheer their ailing pal up on the Avengers text chain.
‘We’re like, ‘OK, you beat us all. That’s it. You won. That’s like real superhero stuff. It’s unbelievable.’
Chris, 41, said Jeremy kept the mood light during the visit.
‘No tears at all. A lot of laughs and smiles and hugs,’ the Captain America star revealed.
‘Leave it to Jeremy to take something this potentially tragic and turn it into something so inspiring.’
The New Year’s day accident that nearly claimed the Hawkeye star’s resulted in 30 broken bones, blunt chest trauma and other injuries.
Happy: Jeremy had recovered enough to attend the premiere for his reality show Rennervations in April. Of her visit, ‘I just was so happy to see that he is full of life and light, and he’s also hilarious. We laughed a lot,’ Scarlett said
Cannes: Scarlett wowed in an Old Hollywood inspired shoot for the magazine
Glitz: The beauty posed up in a golden fringed gown
Text chain: The Avengers co-stars keep in contact via a text chain and the Black Widow star said they joked with Jeremy as he healed. ‘We’re like, ‘OK, you beat us all. That’s it. You won. That’s like real superhero stuff. It’s unbelievable’ (Pictured in Los Angeles in April 2015)
No tears: Chris Evans, 41, accompanied Scarlett on the visit and said Jeremy kept the mood light. ‘No tears at all. A lot of laughs and smiles and hugs,’ the Captain America star said. ‘Leave it to Jeremy to take something this potentially tragic and turn it into something so inspiring’
‘I’ve lost a lot of flesh and bone in this experience,’ the Hurt Locker star told journalist Diane Sawyer in a televised interview.
‘But I’ve been refueled and refilled with love and titanium.’
His recovery was so successful that Jeremy, 52, was able to attend the premiere of his Disney+ show Rennervations April 11 in Los Angeles.
The program followed the action star as he repurposed unused busses and trucks to provide a mobile music studio in Chicago, a mobile dance studio in Mexico, a mobile clean water truck in India and a mobile recreation center in Reno, Nevada.
It’s unclear if Rennervations will be renewed for a second season, but the handyman seemed to hint at it Monday on Instagram.
Meanwhile, Scarlett is headed to France where her latest film, Asteroid City will debut. She stars as famous Hollywood star Midge Campbell who finds herself stuck in the small desert town after some sort of otherworldly incident.
The comedy directed and co-written by Wes Anderson is one the two-time Oscar nominee might never have made if she had not taken control of her own career.
She says her breakout role in Lost In Translation groomed her to be a bombshell.
Pigeonholed: Scarlett said she found herself pigeonholed after her breakout role in Lost In Translation. I did films like ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ and movies that kind of continued that narrative. I couldn’t make any headway,’ she said
Black Widow: Her lucky break came when Emily Blunt had to bow out of the Black Widow role for Iron Man 2. That movie wasn’t going to move the needle forward in terms of how my character was written, but there was potential for what it could be,’ she explained
‘It was hard to get out of that pigeonhole,’ she said. ‘And I did films like ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ and movies that kind of continued that narrative. I couldn’t make any headway.’
‘The work I was being offered felt deeply unfulfilling,’ she continued, adding, ‘I think I was offered every Marilyn Monroe script ever. I was like, “Is this the end of the road creatively?”‘
Her lucky break came when Emily Blunt had to bow out of the Black Widow role for Iron Man 2.
Scarlett had auditioned for the part, and was happy to be able to step into the role which would end up changing her life. ‘That movie wasn’t going to move the needle forward in terms of how my character was written, but there was potential for what it could be — a potential for growth in subsequent films,’ she explained.
Since then she has seen the character grow and have Natasha Romanov’s back story told in the Black Widow movie.
Rift: Scarlett sued Disney after the studio released Black Widow in theaters and on its streaming platform. She and the company settled the suit and have mended the rift and she is attached to star in Tower of Terror being helmed by JoJo Rabbit director Taika Watiti
This success has resulted in her being the highest grossing star in Hollywood. Her success in the Avengers franchise has afforded her the opportunity to work on smaller films such as A Marriage Story and JoJo Rabbit. She received Oscar nominations for both roles.
It also gave her the strength to sue Disney, when they simultaneously released the film in theaters and on the Disney+ streaming app, potentially depriving her of millions of dollars in backend compensation.
She and the studio settled for an undisclosed sum believed to be more than $40 million. ‘I couldn’t even walk through a restaurant without somebody saying, ‘Good for you. Stand up for yourself,”’ she revealed.
‘I could see that it had a bigger impact. I got support from strangers that have no skin in the game at all.’
Scarlett and Disney have mended any rifts. She is set to star Tower of Terror, based on the theme park ride by the same name. Her JoJo Rabbit director and co-star Taika Watiti has been attached to helm the project.
