Jim Carrey is 'fairly serious' about retiring from acting after 'Sonic 2': 'I've done enough'

It's been nearly 40 years since Jim Carrey landed his first film role, and nearly 30 years since the breakout experience of 1994, when his films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber were all released within months of each other. In all the years since, he's remained one of the most recognizable stars in Hollywood, but after all that success, Carrey says it might be time to hang it up. 

During an interview with Access Hollywood this week to promote his return as Dr. Ivo Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Carrey somewhat unexpectedly declared, "Well, I'm retiring" when asked about future film roles. When Access co-host Kit Hoover pressed and asked if he was serious, Carrey responded like this:

"I'm being fairly serious," he said. "It depends if the angels bring some sort of script that's 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."

Carrey has taken small breaks from acting before, and he's notably slowed down a bit from the '90s and early 2000s, when he was usually making at least one movie a year. But it sounds for the moment like Sonic 2 might be the last time we see him for a good long while. Instead, the actor said he'll fill his days with his other major artistic passion: painting. 

"I really like my quiet life, and I really love putting paint on canvas, and I really love my spiritual life," he said. "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."

You can check out the full exchange in the video above. The retirement talk begins at around the 4:15 mark. It's a very candid moment from Carrey, but he's also clear about leaving wiggle room. The exchange was launched in the first place when Hoover brought up Dolly Parton's wish that Carrey play her longtime collaborator Porter Wagoner in a new biopic. After showering love on the country music legend, he made it clear that he'd be interested in considering her offer, at the very least. 

"Well, I would always speak to Dolly," Carrey said. "Dolly's just, to me, an otherworldly talent that is just bigger than you can imagine."

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is in theaters April 8. Carrey will also appear in an upcoming Netflix special paying tribute to his friend and fellow comedian Bob Saget, which will hit the streaming service in June.