Jeremy Renner Has No More Energy For Challenging Roles After Accident

Jeremy Renner's near-fatal snowplow accident has really taken a toll on his career -- 'cause he says he's limited in the type of work he can do these days ... because he's still healing.

The actor went on the "SmartLess" podcast and says he's channeling all his energy into his recovery of late -- this, of course, after he was crushed by a snowplow in 2023 -- which is why he apparently can't take on certain roles for the time being.

JR explains that he can no longer take on challenging parts when getting on-camera because it simply takes too much out of him ... namely, time/energy he doesn't have anymore.

Jeremy goes on to say he was terrified about his "Mayor of Kingstown" S3 return in Jan ... explaining, "Because I'm supposed to do, like, f***ing fiction? I'm still trying to live in reality, I'm trying to live. So it was a hard line for me to cross."

In other words ... he's so focused on trying to get back on track in real life, he can't muster the extra oomph he'd need to disappear in a role that requires a lot of investment from him.

Fortunately for Jeremy, he was able to slink back into his 'MOK' role because it was very familiar and didn't take too much to get into character -- but he says if he was pitched a Jeffrey Dahmer-like role ... he'd have to pass, 'cause he just can't do it right now.