Credit: Universal PicturesJim Carrey has played countless memorable and iconic characters throughout his film career. But while it’s always exciting to see what the talented actor will do next, these days, cinemagoers are more interested in seeing stars reprise their most famous roles. And one of the biggest questions surrounding Carrey right now is whether he’ll ever return to his greenest role, the Grinch.
Carrey brilliantly portrayed the Grinch in the 2000 film of the same name (AKA, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch and How the Grinch Stole Christmas). Directed by Ron Howard and based on the 1957 Dr. Seuss book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, the film grossed $346 million worldwide and became an instant Holiday classic. But will Carrey’s Grinch ever return?
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The good news is that Carrey is no stranger to reprising his roles as zany, larger-than-life characters. After starring in the hit comedy film Ace Venture: Pet Detective (1994), he returned for Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995). He would also later reprise his role as Lloyd Christmas in the long-awaited sequel, Dumb and Dumber To (2014).
But despite starring in more serious roles over the years (The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, to name a few), these days, Carrey is best known for playing the iconic villain, Dr. Robotnik, in the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, a character that has allowed him to tap into his ’90s-self, echoing some of his more villainous performances, like Stanley Ipkiss’ cartoonishly insane green alter ego from The Mask (1994) and the equally bonkers (and equally colored) Edward Nygma/The Riddler from Batman Forever (1995).
Now, The Truman Show (1998) star is returning as the mad, evil, mustache-twirling scientist for a third (and probably final) time in the highly anticipated sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024), despite telling Access Hollywood in 2022 that he would likely be retiring after playing Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022). So, why is he back for the third outing?
At the red carpet premiere for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, an AP Entertainment reporter asked Carrey about his past comments on retiring, saying, “You said in a past interview that you’d come back if you got a script written in gold ink written by angels,” to which Carrey replied, with a laugh, “That might’ve been hyperbole, yeah,” adding, “I came back to this [Sonic the Hedgehog] universe because I get to play a genius, which is a bit of a stretch. And, you know, I bought a lot of stuff and I need the money, frankly.”
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) grossed $320 million worldwide against an estimated budget of $85–90 million. The film was praised by fans and critics, with Carrey’s performance, in particular, being cited as one of its strong points.
He returned in the sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which nabbed $405.4 million at the global box office against its $90–110 million budget. So, it’s hardly surprising that he’s back to collect more gold coins.
But will Carrey finally be done acting after Sonic the Hedgehog 3, meaning we’ll never see him return to play the Grinch ever again? Well, not so fast. In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, he was asked which character he’d love to play again, and his response came wrapped in a bow with a gift-tag that read, “The Grinch”.
However, there would be an intriguing catch, because, according to Carrey, playing the green, Christmas-loathing creature from the top of Mt. Crumpit was an “excruciating process.”
“Oh, gosh, you know, if we could figure out the Grinch,” he said. “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.”
Related: Jim Carrey’s Grinch Return Divides Fans in New Video, Takes Cheap Shot at Disney
Carrey is no stranger to motion-capture performance, either, having played Ebenezer Scrooge in the 3D-animated movie adaptation, Disney’s A Christmas Carol (2009), which was directed by Robert Zemeckis, who had previously helmed the similarly-crafted film, The Polar Express (2004).
While we did get a 3D-animated version of the Grinch starring Benedict Cumberbatch in 2018, it didn’t feature a motion-capture performance from the actor. There have been talks of a sequel to Jim Carrey’s The Grinch, however, nothing concrete has been confirmed. But should conversations at Universal Pictures arise again, let’s hope Carrey still needs the money, frankly.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 releases in theaters on December 20.
Will you be watching Jim Carrey play Dr. Robotnik for a third time? Would you like to see him return as the Grinch in motion capture? Sound off below!