Jim Carrey Reveals What It Would Take for Him to Play Ace Ventura Again

Hollywood has long had an obsession with revisiting iconic characters and films years later as an attempt to capitalize on nostalgia. What people seem really interested in though isn’t the franchise itself returning but the stars coming back to a role that they made famous, like the upcoming Top Gun sequel with Tom Cruise returning to his role or the ongoing . Actor Jim Carrey is no stranger to doing this, having returned to the role of Lloyd Christmas for Dumb and Dumber To and his . What about his other most famous part, Ace Ventura? Speaking with E! News, Carrey was asked about a return to the Pet Detective, and his answer….might surprise you.

“I think after the fact when there’s been a lot of years, unless some genius person, director, auteur comes to you with a completely new take on what’s going on, you know. If Chris Nolan came to me and said ‘I want to make Ace Ventura real and I want to do something, you know, something more interesting…’ then I might listen. But for the most part, you know, after a certain time there’s not one cell in your body that is that person anymore so you end up just imitating what you did in the old days and the original inspiration isn’t there.”

Prior to the Dumb and Dumber sequel and the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, Ace Ventura was the only character that Jim Carrey played more than once on the big screen. For those that weren’t around, it was a monstrous hit. at the time with its sequel surpassing expectations as well, becoming the #5 highest grossing movie of 1995. That said, even if an auteur with a crazy take on Ace Ventura DID come around, Carrey might not do it because he previously announced he’s pondering retirement.

“Well, I’m retiring…Probably. I’m being fairly serious, yeah,” Carrey admitted to Access Hollywood last week. “It depends if the angels bring some sort of script that’s written in gold ink that says it’s really going to be important for people to see. I might continue down the road, but I’m taking a break. I really like my quiet life, and I really love putting paint on canvas. I really love my spiritual life and I feel like… and this is something that you might never hear another celebrity say as long as time exists, ‘I have enough. I’ve done enough. I am enough.’”  

Carrey can next be seen as Dr. Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 this weekend.