There was a time when Jim Carrey was one of the biggest movie stars in the entire world. A comedian who has carved out a legacy for himself as one of the most unique voices in entertainment, the Ace Ventura actor took a notable step back from the Hollywood spotlight years ago and became far more selective about the roles he chose to take. So why did he do it? Well, in a recent interview, Carrey addressed his step back from Hollywood and explained that he didn't like the increasingly corporate and by-committee direction of Hollywood. The actor revealed:
I just didn't want to be in the business anymore. I didn't like what was happening, the corporations taking over and all that. And maybe it's because I felt pulled toward a different type of creative outlet and I really liked the control of painting --- of not having a committee in the way telling me what the idea must be to appeal to a four-quadrant whatever.
It's a simple enough explanation, isn't it? Hollywood has changed quite a bit since Jim Carrey's broke into the mainstream in films like Dumb & Dumber and The Mask back in the early 1990s, and as he laid out in his recent profile in THR, he didn't like the increasingly corporate approach to filmmaking that felt tailored for mass appeal to wide demographics. As a result, he has shifted his focus away from acting and has branched out into the world of painting as a form of expression, with a particular slant towards political satire in his art.
After all, it's not like Jim Carrey has anything left to prove on the big screen. Between his comedic roles in movies like Bruce Almighty, his (arguably underrated) super villain performance as The Riddler in Batman Forever, and his dramatic turns in films like The Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the guy has virtually done it all.
With all of that said, Jim Carrey did not leave Hollywood entirely. He has remained at least partially active as a performer, with roles in films like Dumb & Dumber To, Kick-Ass 2, and The Bad Batch defining his most recent years on the big screen. Moreover, Carrey was also recently announced as the actor to take on the role of Dr. Ivo Robotnik in the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog adaptation, so he still has some potential blockbuster gas left in the tank as well. That said, the overall arc of his career seems to suggest that he has moved away from the more active tentpole work of his earlier years.
CinemaBlend will bring you more information about all of Jim Carrey's upcoming work as new details are made available to us. On the small screen, you can catch him on Showtime's Kidding when the new series premieres on September 9. Until then, you can head over to our movie premiere guide to read up on all of the films that are still on the docket for 2018!
