Dark reason Jim Carrey left Hollywood as he makes rare appearance

Jim Carrey made a rare public appearance this week, when he stepped back into the spotlight to accept an award at the Cesar Film Awards.

The Truman Show star might be one of the most iconic comedic actors of his generation, but these days, he prefers a quieter life, since retiring from Hollywood in 2022.

Carrey was presented with the Honorary Cesar Award during the lavish ceremony at L'Olympia in Paris, where he was described as the king of slapstick and 'one of the most original voices in modern cinema.'

And while the 64-year-old appeared truly honoured to be receiving the award, the accolade still isn't enough to lure him back in front of the camera – much to the disappointment of his fans.

Back in 2022, the Bruce Almighty star revealed he was 'being fairly serious' about his decision to retire and shared the dark reason behind his desire to step away from the spotlight.

Jim Carrey accepted the award in Paris this week (Kristy Sparow/Getty Images)

Speaking to Access Hollywood during the promotion of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, he confessed that if 'angels bring down some sort of script that's written in gold ink' that is important for people to see, he would reconsider it, but otherwise his acting days are behind him.

"I really like my quiet life and I really like putting paint on canvas and I really love my spiritual life and I feel like - and this is something you might never hear another celebrity say as long as time exists - I have enough," he claimed, saying he had 'done enough' and that he himself was 'enough'.

With a back catalogue of films like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dumb & Dumber, Liar Liar and A Series of Unfortunate Events, just to name a small few, absolutely no one can argue that he hasn't done enough for comedic cinema.

Jim Carrey mostly stays out of the spotlight (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Even before his retirement, Carrey had carefully slowed down his career, only appearing in the Sonic franchise within the last decade, however he did explain why he returned to play Dr Robotnik aka Dr Eggman.

Seemingly being the script written in gold, he told the Associated Press in December 2024 that he relished playing 'a genius', which he said was 'a bit of a stretch'.

"And you know, I bought a lot of stuff and I need the money, frankly," he candidly admitted.

Tragically, a source close to Carrey claimed the actor, who is said to be living a private life in Hawaii, turns down 'three or four movies a year, sometimes for $5 or $6 million,' because 'the industry drained him.'

Outside of his professional life, Carrey has dealt with the grief of losing his ex-girlfriend Cathriona White, who died of a drug overdose in 2015.