Yahoo Movies Did Jim Carrey come out of retirement for Sonic the Hedgehog 3?
Two years after he said he was retiring from acting, Jim Carrey is back for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. What happened there?
Jim Carrey is back as one of the video game world's most memorable villains in the new sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The rubber-faced comedy legend has embraced a bald head and a very silly moustache to play Doctor Robotnik — aka Eggman — in the first two movies and, despite some claims to the contrary, he's back again.
Those claims, interestingly, came from Carrey himself. While promoting the second Sonic the Hedgehog film in 2022, the star hinted that it would take something special for him to make another movie. Well apparently, it only took two years and the prospect of renewing his relationship with a spiny CGI speedster to move the needle.
But just how serious was Carrey being when he talked about his retirement from acting? Was it really the prospect of another go-around in that Robotnik costume that reignited his creative spark? Let's have a look at what the man himself has actually said.
What did Jim Carrey say about his retirement in 2022?
By the time Jim Carrey starred as Robotnik for the first time in 2020, his acting career had undergone a huge change. For most of the 2010s, he appeared only sporadically on the big screen and — following the release of the truly terrible Dumb and Dumber To in 2014 — he had mostly eschewed his trademark comedy stylings in favour of darker material.
Throughout that decade, he focused on his affection for art as well as political activism. He even wrote a children's book. With all of this in mind, it was something of a surprise when he returned to his family-friendly comedic roots for the role of Robotnik. However, his performance was vintage Carrey and helped to make Sonic the Hedgehog a success to the tune of $320m (£251m) worldwide.
Read more: Keanu Reeves says he joined Sonic The Hedgehog 3 cast as he is ‘a big fan’ (PA Media, 2 min read)
A sequel was inevitable and, given the tease of Robotnik's classic look at the end of the first film, Carrey's return was a dead cert. But, while promoting that sequel movie to Access Hollywood, Carrey made a big revelation about his future career.
When asked about playing a role in a future movie about Dolly Parton, Carrey said “well, I’m retiring". He added that he was "being fairly serious" and said: "It depends. If the angels bring some sort of script that is written in gold ink that says to me that it’s going to be really important for people to see, I might continue down the road, but I’m taking a break."
Read more: Every Jim Carrey Movie, Ranked From Worst to Best (Men's Health)
Taken as a whole, this statement is a bit more equivocal than we might think. Rather than outright hanging up his acting boots, he said he was "taking a break" and was only "fairly serious" about never acting again. Just a few months after his 60th birthday, it's understandable that Carrey would be reflective about his future career.
Admittedly, we all thought it might take a little longer than two years for him to walk another red carpet to premiere his latest film.
Did Jim Carrey come out of retirement just for Sonic the Hedgehog 3?
Carrey's return for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was something of a surprise. The 62-year-old is not just playing Robotnik, but also Gerald Robotnik — the character's elderly grandfather and the creator of Shadow the Hedgehog. At the premiere of the new movie, Carrey inevitably had to answer questions about whether his retirement had already come to an end. He admitted that his past comments about needing a script penned by angels "might have been hyperbole" on his part.
“I came back to this universe because, first of all, I get to play a genius, which is a bit of a stretch," he said. "And, you know, it’s just… I bought a lot of stuff and I need the money, frankly."
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It's refreshing honesty from Carrey, admitting that he took on the role because he needed a bit of cash rather than because he was enthralled by the artistic possibilities of playing his own grandparent. So is Carrey back now permanently, or does he strictly play villains from the Sega universe these days?
Carrey, it seems, could be tempted back to the big screen for the right price and the right concept. He even admitted he would consider a return to The Grinch. Carrey played the Christmas-hating green menace in Ron Howard's adaptation of the Dr Seuss story and infamously struggled with the extensive prosthetics and make-up required. If he were to play the role again, he'd require computer assistance.
He said: “Oh, gosh, you know, if we could figure out the Grinch. The thing about it is, on the day, I do that with a ton of makeup and can hardly breathe. It was an extremely excruciating process. The children were in my mind all the time. ‘It’s for the kids. It’s for the kids. It’s for the kids.’ And now, with motion capture and things like that, I could be free to do other things. Anything is possible in this world.”
Read more: 'The Grinch' at 20: Facts you might not know about the Jim Carrey Christmas classic (Yahoo Entertainment, 8 min read)
So we can safely state that rumours of Jim Carrey's retirement have been greatly exaggerated — mostly by the man himself. In that case, we shouldn't be surprised next time we see him back on the big screen, though hopefully we can see him in a few different roles. We love Robotnik, but there's much more to Carrey than one silly moustache.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is in UK cinemas from 27 December.
