Quick Links
Few Hollywood celebs have reached the heights that Jim Carrey has. He went from being an unknown stand up comedian to one of the most well respected actors in the world. By the late 90’s, he was one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. He has an estimated net worth of $150 million. He starred in everything from classic comedians to big budget blockbusters. He shocked the world when he began taking on more serious roles. It would be difficult to find anyone in the world that hasn’t heard the name Jim Carrey. However, he has faded away from the spotlight and an entire generation might not know who he is.
In the last several years, Jim Carrey has almost disappeared for a number of reasons. He’s still around but hasn’t been in a movie or TV show in years. He makes appearances on talk shows and celebrity events once in a while. At times it seems that Hollywood has moved on and left him behind. However, it also appears that he is the one that left Hollywood behind and hasn’t looked back. Here is a look at 15 Reasons Hollywood Has Forgotten About Jim Carrey.
He Only Accepts A Role If The Character Speaks To Him
In the mid-90’s, Jim Carrey became one of the biggest stars in the world. He starred in several memorable comedies, such as, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask and Liar, Liar. He continued to land major roles throughout his career. He only takes on roles that speak to him and characters he connects with.
He said, “They're attracted to whatever that magnetism is at that time. I don't really look for things, and it's the same with painting and sculpting or whatever.”
However, in the last few years, studios have had very little patience when it comes to Carrey accepting a role. He said, “I'll just start, and it happens that later on my subconscious mind told me something, just like the scripts tell me something about where I was at, and so, they find me." (Looper) He’s left many studios wondering if he’ll accept a role or not.
Jim Carrey Doesn't Believe In Personalities
Jim Carrey began performing stand up comedy in the early 80’s. He eventually became known for his slapstick humor and impressions. In 2009, Jim Carrey wasn't the same person and was in a much different place now. He is a strong believer in the power of visualization and practices transcendental meditation.
He often speaks about the “power of consciousness” and “intention”.
In 2017, he made headlines when he showed up to New York Fashion Week and gave a strange interview to E! News. He said, “I don't believe in personalities. I don't believe that you exist, but there is a wonderful fragrance in the air…I believe we're a field of energy dancing for itself and I don't care…there is no me, there's just things happening and there are clusters of tetrahedrons moving around together.” (Entertainment Weekly)
From Best Actor To Bad Actor
In Hollywood, winning a major award only helps to boost ones career. If a celebs career starts to stall then winning an award might revitalize it for them. Jim Carrey has won a few awards in his career. He’s only had a handful of nominations and early in his career appeared in comedic films exclusively. He did start taking on more dramatic roles and received several awards. He won two Golden Globe Awards in 1999 and 2000 for his roles in The Truman Show and Man on the Moon respectively.
He hasn’t received many awards recently although he was nominated for Worst Actor at the Golden Raspberry Awards for his role in The Number 23. His lack of awards and momentum means he’s at the bottom of most directors and studio's lists.
You Lop Off Your Right Arm To Learn To Write With Your Left
Jim Carrey’s existential and philosophical views sometimes benefit his career but can interfere too. As noted, he believes in the power of visualization. When he was just starting out he visualized a $10 million check given to him. Seven years later he received a check for the same amount for his role in Dumb and Dumber. He takes long hiatuses from Hollywood to search out new skills and talents.
He said, “You lop your right arm off to learn how to write with your left, and then you sew the right arm back on when you've learned and then you go 'Hey, check it out!’ You know and then you come back, still you can do the old stuff, but the new stuff is there, too." (Looper) However, as he discovers new talents, Hollywood discovers new talent as well.
Method Acting
In 1999, Jim Carrey portrayed legendary comedian Andy Kaufman in the biopic Man on the Moon. During the shooting of the film, Carrey’s method acting and staying in character annoyed the crew and his co-stars.
Carrey also refused to break character when portraying Kaufman’s alter ego Tony Clifton. This included keeping Limburger cheese in his pockets, rubbing it on his hands and then shaking hands with cast and crew.
Carrey even admitted that he would stay in character and refused to listen to the director. His method acting didn’t hurt his career here but did cause studios to become concerned. All the behind the scenes footage and antics were apart of the 2017 Netflix documentary, Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – With a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton.
Piledriver
During the 80’s, professional wrestler Jerry “The King “ Lawler and comedian Andy Kaufman had a famous wrestling feud that did its best to blur the line between reality and fiction. In one instance, Lawler gave Kaufman a wrestling maneuver known as a piledriver and “broke” his neck. During filming of Man on the Moon, Carrey wanted to re-create that same scenario and also blur the line between fiction and reality.
According to Lawler, Carrey wanted The King to “injure” him with the piledriver but Lawler turned the idea down.
Lawler had a heated confrontation with Carrey while he was still in character as Kaufman. He spat in Lawler’s face and it briefly got physical between the two (TMZ). It wasn’t the same as with Kaufman and the confrontation only got a little media attention.
Family Is More Important Than Show Business
Jim Carrey is one of the most versatile stars in Hollywood. Early in his career, he was best known for his wacky sense of humor. However, he showed his wide range by taking on more dramatic roles. He starred in a number of memorable films throughout his career, including, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Bruce Almighty and A Christmas Carol.
Despite portraying some of the funniest characters in film history, Carrey is a deeply serious artist. He takes his profession very seriously and often takes breaks to spend time with his family. He gives similar advice to present day Hollywood stars. Current Hollywood star Chris Pratt asked Carrey for career advice. Carrey said, “There's going to be a point in life where you're going to have to prove that your family is more important to you than show business.” (Looper)
comedy club
Jim Carrey is focusing on behind the scenes work more than acting in front of it. Acting has taken a backseat to some of his other goals and pursuits. He's the executive producer for the Showtime series I’m Dying Up Here. The series revolves around a comedy club and its owner in the 1970’s. Carrey doesn’t appear but plays a crucial role behind the scenes. He loves working behind the camera and creating content.
He said, “(I’m) in the process of shedding layers of persona at this time in my life. … I'm very happy to [be] here for these guys and watch these guys enter this world and create these characters who are looking to create a cadence and a persona and something that will draw people's attention to them.” (Looper)
No Longer Guaranteed Box Office Gold
In the late 90’s, Jim Carrey was a bankable leading star that was guaranteed box office gold. He starred in a plethora of memorable comedies that defined his early work. Every film he was in was a major success and resulted in even more opportunities.
In the last few years, he’s starred in a string of films that were disliked by critics and did poorly at the box office.
He failed to recapture his past glory as a major movie star. Some of the lackluster films included The Number 23, I Love You Philip Morris and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. Studios are less likely to offer him roles because he doesn’t come with the guarantee he once did. He’s no longer a bankable movie star and the offers stopped rolling in.
Jim Carrey and his beliefs
Celebrities often have many causes and charities that mean a lot to them. For some celebs, it becomes more important than their careers. However, stars get themselves into hot water when discussing controversial or political topics. Jim Carrey has found himself in that situation on more than one occasion. Carrey is very outspoken on the topic of vaccines and believes it is not safe. Several doctors and scientists dispute Carrey’s claims that he puts forward.
In 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a new vaccination law that prevents exemptions based on philosophical or religious beliefs. Carrey called Brown a “corporate fascist” and accused him of “poisoning the children”. (Politco) Carrey is entitled to his political opinions but most studios avoid the negative attention.
Withdrawing Support For Film
Jim Carrey developed a reputation for being a bit quirky and difficult to work with. His intense method acting and commitment to character is well known. However, his outspokenness might be a reason studios think twice about offering him a role.
In 2013, Carrey starred in the comic book film Kick-Ass 2, which starred Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Carrey created some controversy when he withdrew support for the film a few months before its release. Production for the film had wrapped a month before the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
He said, “I did Kick-Ass a month before Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence.” (BBC)
The film did well at the box office but received mostly mixed reviews. Carrey’s lack of support for the film hurt his place in Hollywood.
Tragedy & Lawsuits
Jim Carrey decided to take a break from showbiz to deal with many personal issues and problems. In 2015, Carrey’s ex-girlfriend, Cathriona White had passed away. Carrey first met her in 2012 but she was married to Mark Burton from 2013 until her death. Carrey served as a pallbearer at the funeral.
In 2016, Burton filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Carrey and claimed Carrey purchased the substances that White had taken. Carrey filled a countersuit and called the claims “irrelevant, false and improper. He added, “I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved.” (E!News) Both lawsuits were dismissed in early 2018.
Artwork Is His First Love
It might appear that Hollywood has forgotten about Jim Carrey and moved on. The truth might be that Jim Carrey is the one that has forgotten about Hollywood. He focuses his attention on his painting and sculpting.
He’s even called his art “kind of my first love in a way.” It’s become one of his greatest passions in life.
In 2015, he appeared on an episode of Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. He showed off his impressive art studio, which he called “a womb”. Carrey and his passion for artwork were featured in the 2017 documentary, I Need Color. Carrey even admitted that he could leave all of the glitz and glamour behind for his artwork. He said, “I could disappear from show business forever and feel wonderful about what I've done.” (Looper)
Not Hungry
Even if Hollywood started calling again there is no guarantee that Jim Carrey would answer. He’s done everything he wants to do in Hollywood and is happy with life. He’s still landing significant roles but he’s not the major star he once was. That seems to be by choice and not something forced on him.
During a performance at Pasadena’s Icehouse Comedy Club he made some pretty blunt comments. He said, “I have nothing to say! I'm not hungry anymore. I've done it all!” (Looper) He’s thrown himself into his artwork and is working on a book. Recently, some of his artwork actually put him back in the headlines. He has people talking about his political artwork featuring Donald Trump, Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, Sean Hannity and Alex Jones.
He's Kidding
Early in his career, Jim Carrey struggled for years to get noticed. He performed at several famous comedy clubs, including, Evening at The Improv, Yuk Yuks and The Comedy Store. He finally had his big breakthrough in the sketch comedy series In Living Color. He was a cast member from 1990 to 1994. He went on to have an enormously successful movie career.
He takes many breaks from acting to focus on other projects and his family. Hollywood isn’t kicking his door down to star in movies anymore.
However, he is still one of the most recognizable celebs in the world. Instead of returning to the big screen, he’ll make his long anticipated return to television. He will star in the Showtime series, Kidding, which is slated to premiere in 2018.
Sources: Looper
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEq6CcoJWowW%2BvzqZmqaegYrC2uNOuqZ5nYWp6s7HArKanq12ftq55wpqpq52pYrWiv4ygoK%2BdnmLCsXnOp2Shp5yhxri7zp1m