Earlier this week, it was announced that Bruce Willis is retiring from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia, and celebrities like Jamie Lee Curtis and M. Night Shyamalan have sent out supportive messages to both him and his family since then. Now it’s looking like another big-time actor might be joining Willis is leaving the acting world. In this case though, Jim Carrey’s departure wouldn’t be due to a health issue, but simply personal preference.
Next week, Jim Carrey returns as Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, whom he first played two years ago. While speaking about the sequel and other things about his life with Access, the interviewer brought up how Dolly Parton expressed interest in Carrey playing Porter Wagoner, her late music partner, if a biopic about her life is made. Carrey described that as a “lovely thing,” but then said the following:
Well, I’m retiring. Yeah, probably… I’m being fairly serious. It depends if the angels bring some sort of script that’s written in gold ink that says it’s going to be really important for people to see, I might continue down the road, but I’m taking a break. I really like my quiet life and I really love putting paint on canvas and I really love my spiritual life. I feel like, and this is something you might never hear another celebrity say as long as time exists, I have enough. I’ve done enough. I am enough.
Although Jim Carrey executive produced and starred in the Showtime series Kidding from 2018 to 2020, film-wise, Robotnik is the only role he’s played since 2016, with both The Bad Batch and Dark Crimes coming out that year. Looking over the entirety of the 2010s, Carrey appeared in seven movies total, including an uncredited cameo in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. For comparison, Carrey appeared in 11 films in the 1990s (when his fame really took off) and 12 films in the 2000s.
Clearly Jim Carrey is well off enough if he’s mulling retiring from acting, as opposed to needing to take roles simply to pay the bills. As Carrey noted, this isn’t to say we’ll never see him playing a character again, but for now he’s ready to press pause on this portion of his life in favor of working on his art, spending time with family and more. Furthermore, if he does decide to act again, he’ll need to wowed by the script rather than just grabbing anything that comes his way. This doesn’t bode well for seeing Robotnik back for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which was officially announced alongside Paramount+’s Knuckles series in February.
For now though, you can look forward to Jim Carrey’s mad scientist character antagonizing Ben Schwartz’s blue speedster yet again in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which opens in theaters on April 8. Our lineup of 2022 movie releases is available to peruse through if you’re wondering what movies are coming out later in the year.
