The beloved comedian also discusses finally embracing Twitter with his art.
Jim Carrey is back!
The legendary comedian and actor recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss social media, President Donald Trump and why he almost gave up on Hollywood for good.
"I just didn't want to be in the business anymore," Carrey explains to the outlet regarding his absence from the public eye in recent years. "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."
In fact, it took a very special role and an old collaborator to convince Carrey to once again step in front of the camera. On Sept. 9, Showtime’s new comedy-drama Kidding premieres, in which the 56-year-old thespian plays Jeff Pickles, a beloved children’s TV show host attempting to keep his career (and sanity) intact as his personal life goes to tatters.
"Projects find you when you're ready to express them. That's what I find," Carrey told ET recently of his first TV role since In Living Color. "The ones that you're drawn to are the ones that, for some reason, you've just experienced something very similar or something in your past is lit up by this."
The pilot for Kidding was helmed by Michel Gondry, who directed Carrey in the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which turned out to be one of Carrey’s most acclaimed performances. With an old friend and a challenging role that interested him, finally a project came along that could coax the gifted actor back into the spotlight.
During the interview with THR, Carrey also discusses how, although he hasn’t been acting much lately, his art has been making headlines. In recent months, Carrey’s Twitter account has become almost totally dominated by his politically charged work, which often takes shots at Trump and/or his policies.
"I knew sooner or later I'd find a worthy way to use Twitter," Carrey happily states. "My manager used to be like, 'Don't do stuff on there. You're f**king insane.'"
However, his paintings have become enormously popular, garnering him almost 18 million followers and hundreds of thousand of retweets. But, he says, he doesn't manage his own account. He leaves that duty to some "pals."
"When you're in my position, I think it's a really smart thing to have a buffer," he explains.
Kidding premieres on Showtime on Aug. 31.
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