HE was once the face of Hollywood comedy, widely regarded as the funniest actor on the planet with leading roles in The Grinch, Dumb and Dumber and The Mask.
But by the mid 2010s Jim Carrey had all but vanished from public life, with a limited number of red carpet appearances and just one film role – in Sonic the Hedgehog and its two sequels – in the last decade. Here, for the first time, those close to the star reveal the dark truth behind his disappearance.
By all accounts, the Jim Carrey of today leads a simpler life than his reported $180 million – £140 million – wealth would suggest.
According to a Sun Showbiz insider, the acting legend has become something of a recluse, a hideaway in Hawaii who uses a fake name, lives off grid and frequently forgets what day it is.
Once loved by Hollywood execs and millions of fans around the world for his mastery of physical comedy and unique acting style, Jim is said to still be offered three to four movies a year but turns them all down.
The 63-year-old has even hinted at retiring from acting for good of late, with his latest birthday milestone said to have accelerated his wish to disappear.
“Turning 60 hit him hard,” said our source.
“It made him realise how fast time flies and left him questioning himself, feeling the need to disconnect from the modern world.
“He simply doesn’t want to be part of that world anymore.
“He’s on a spiritual journey of self-discovery, thinking about life and his legacy.”
But the two times Golden Globe winner’s retreat from fame is more complicated than a simple wish to retire.
Irish make-up artist Cathriona White was married to another man when she met Jim in 2012.
They became an item but three years later, when she was just 30, Cathriona committed suicide by prescription drug overdose.
Her death came four days after she had split up with Jim for the second time and her suicide note said she had been left heartbroken by his decision to end their relationship.
Following her passing, a shocking, unearthed letter penned by Cathriona on her iPad in 2013 claimed Jim had introduced her to ‘cocaine, prostitutes, mental abuse and disease’.
The actor denied any wrongdoing but his public image took a battering and amid the fallout, the two films he released in 2016 – detective drama Dark Crimes, which earned a rare 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and The Bad Batch, a dystopian thriller in which he made a cameo – were box office flops.
With the exception of playing the chief villain in three Sonic the Hedgehog movies – a decision he admitted was financially motivated – ‘drained’ Jim hasn’t appeared in a movie since, with his two-year stint in the US TV comedy Kidding ending in 2020.
“Jim still gets offers,” said the insider.
“Three or four movies a year, sometimes for $5 or $6 million, but he turns them all down.
“The industry drained him, he lost his love for it.
“He feels creativity and freedom of expression in movies are very limited now, and because of that, he doesn’t see himself doing any more films.”
A complex character away from the spotlight, Jim was born in Canada and moved to Los Angeles in the 1980s to find fame.
By the early ’90s, he had risen from humble beginnings to the top of the Hollywood totem pole and, estimated to be worth $300 million at the height of his success, starred in a series of blockbuster movies including Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask and Dumb and Dumber.
The actor has been married twice, first to actress Melissa Womer in 1987 and later to his Dumb And Dumber co-star Lauren Holly in 1996.
He is father to a daughter, 38-year-old singer Jane Erin Carrey, with Melissa and grandfather to her teenage son, Jackson Riley Santana.
Jim also had a five-year relationship with actress and Playboy model Jenny McCarthy, which ended in 2010, and he enjoyed high-profile romances with Bridget Jones star Renee Zellweger and actress January Jones, best known for playing Betty Draper Mad Men, too.
Diagnosed with ADHD as a child, a condition he says fuelled his creativity, the star has previously told of battles with depression and struggles to maintain sobriety from alcohol and drug use.
Speaking in 1995 with reference to one of his best-known films, his first wife Melissa said tellingly of her ex: “I’ve learned that the smile he wears is the biggest mask of all.”
“People see him as the funny guy, the one who makes everyone laugh, but he’s gone through some really rough patches – what I’d call his ‘sad clown moments’,” explained our insider.
“He struggled with depression and losing confidence for a while.”
A pallbearer at Cathriona’s funeral, heartbroken Jim released a statement after his ex-girlfriend’s death in 2015 which called her a “truly kind and delicate Irish flower, too sensitive to this soil, to whom loving and being loved was all that sparkled”.
He gets up when he wants, has breakfast for dinner, and often forgets what day it is
Insider
But wrongful death lawsuits were later filed by the make-up artist’s estranged husband Mark Burton and her mother Brigid Sweetman, who branded him a “dishonest Hollywood celebrity who thinks he can say anything and fool people just because he is famous”.
These lawsuits were dismissed but it is perhaps no coincidence Jim’s search for happiness over the past decade has taken him down a path far away from fame.
“He wakes up when he wants, sometimes has breakfast for dinner, and often forgets what day it is,” said our source.
“When he meets people during his walks or grocery runs, he sometimes tells them his name is Josh or John, just to stay ‘incognito’.
“He doesn’t spend much money, he lives simply – walks, has coffee while staring at the ocean for hours, reads, writes.
“He’s been working on essays and stories and he’s thinking about publishing them under a pseudonym so people won’t buy them just because of his name.
“He writes purely for the creative joy of it – to tell stories from his imagination and to share his philosophical thoughts and fictional worlds.”
The star’s last public relationship with actress Ginger Gonzaga ended in 2019 and he is thought to be single, although he has said he still dates.
Striving to find peace by simplifying his life, the actor sold his sprawling estate in the upscale, affluent Brentwood area of Los Angeles for $17 million in August.
Jim had bought the five-bedroom, 12,700 square foot home for $3.8 million in 1994 and in order to sell it was forced to seriously slash the price since he had first listed it for sale in 2023 for $28.9 million.
The comedian is thought to be spending a lot of time on the tranquil, peaceful island of Maui, in Hawaii, where he owns a waterfront home in Makena, and confirmed he was a resident on the island back in 2017.
Famous fellow residents on the island include Oscar winner Clint Eastwood and legendary Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler.
Our insider said Jim would love to move even further afield.
“Sometimes he talks about moving to another island – maybe somewhere in Europe, like Greece, the Balearic Islands, or somewhere in the Mediterranean – just to be even more isolated and anonymous,” they said.
Earlier this month, Jim made a rare public appearance at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theatre to welcome music legends Soundgarden into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
A long time fan of the rock band, the actor is said to have first asked if he could join via video instead of attending in person.
Reuniting with his co-star in The Grinch, actress Taylor Momsen, on the red carpet 25 years on, the actor looked so fresh-faced that fans speculated he had had Botox, a face lift, or maybe both.
Whatever the case, with no evidence the star has undergone any procedure, the overall conclusion was that he looked ‘great’.
Red carpet appearances are rare for Jim, with our insider revealing he turns down nearly all the invitations he gets for public appearances and paid events, something seen by many high-profile celebrities as an easy opportunity to make money.
The primary motivation in the star’s life is finding spiritual equilibrium, with peace and happiness his end goal – and retreating from the spotlight seems to be working.
“I don’t think he’ll ever make another movie, unless he absolutely needs money – that’s why he accepted the Sonic the Hedgehog role – or unless something truly magical comes along, which seems unlikely now,” said our insider.
“He’s comfortable where he is now, having finally found balance after years of struggle.
“He says he’s happy – and I believe him.”
