Jim Carrey has a different perspective on life after taking some time away from the spotlight.
The actor and comedian has made few public appearances in the last couple of years, following the death of his former girlfriend Cathriona White from a prescription drug overdose in 2015 and two members of White’s family filing separate ongoing wrongful death lawsuits against him.
During an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday night (22May17), Carrey shared that he has been re-evaluating his role as a celebrity and the impact of Hollywood in his life.
“(Life) is so beautiful, especially when I’m absent from it. Don’t get me wrong, Jim Carrey is a great character, and I was lucky to get the part, but I don’t think of that as me anymore,” he said. “I used to be a guy who was experiencing the world and now I feel like the world and universe experiencing a guy. So there’s kind of been a shift.”
The 55-year-old added that he has been using painting as a creative outlet, and has created several large format works which tackle themes relating to human life and experience.
Carrey has also grown a long beard recently, and explains that it has changed the way people perceive him.
“Everywhere I go, people talk about the beard. They go, ‘What are you doing? Why are you growing a beard?’ It’s like they can’t really think about anything else. It’s just not, you know, cohesive. There’s something different about me, it’s that damn beard, and wherever I show up it becomes the story. It’s a bigger star than me at this point,” he laughed.
Carrey’s latest gig has been as an executive producer on the comedy-drama show I’m Dying Up Here.
Based on the bestselling book by William Knoedelseder, the program is slated to hit screens on the Showtime network from 4 June (17).
