Jim Carrey Remembers Time When He Was Told He Only Had 10 Minutes to Live

Technology has improved our lives in a number of ways, but as actor Jim Carrey recently recalled, all it took was one false alarm accidentally distributed to his phone that made him think he only had 10 minutes to live. The actor recently recounted what his experience was like back in 2018 when a false alarm, which was ultimately part of a drill, was sent to a group of people in Hawaii about missiles being sent to the island. The actor detailed how he experienced a number of emotions about how to spend what he believed to be his final moments, which included anger when he learned it was all a ruse.

“That cover [to my new book] is actually my face after being told that I had 10 minutes to live,” Carrey shared with The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “And that’s for real. A fake missile alert in Hawaii. I was there. I was writing. My assistant Linda called me, she was crying, she said, ‘We have 10 minutes left.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘The missiles are coming.’”

The alert read, “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.”

“I couldn’t get off the island,” the actor detailed. “The question was posed — should we all try to get together? I said, ‘I don’t want to die in my car.’ And we had to say goodbye.”

While the actor is known for for his sense of humor and many comedic performances, Carrey went on to detail the somber emotions he experienced when he thought his time had come.

“I just decided to go through a list of gratitudes,” he said. “Honest to God, I just could not stop thinking of wonderful things that have happened to me and blessings that I’ve had. It was lovely. And I got to a point of grace with about two minutes to spare when I found out it wasn’t actually happening. And all I was planning to do was close my eyes and be thankful because it’s been a good ride.”

Luckily, minutes after the alert had been sent, it was confirmed that it was merely a false alarm, to which Carrey reacted, “Then I got pissed off and heads rolled!”

Carrey’s new book, Memoirs and Misinformation, is available now.

Header photo courtesy of Isa Foltin/WireImage/GettyImages