Inside Jim Carrey’s Disappearance from Hollywood
For nearly a decade, one of Hollywood’s most recognizable comedic stars has chosen silence over spotlight, and solitude over fame. Jim Carrey, now 63, once defined a generation of comedy through unforgettable performances in films like Dumb and Dumber, The Mask, and Bruce Almighty. But in recent years, he has turned his back on the world of red carpets and flashing cameras, trading it for canvases, brushes, and a life rooted in reflection.
“I just didn’t want to be in the business anymore,” Carrey revealed during a 2018 interview inside his Brentwood home, where he lived alone. His decision stemmed from a growing discomfort with an industry increasingly shaped by corporate control. For Carrey, art became a way to rediscover creative freedom — a form of expression untouched by profit or approval.
As his fame reached new heights, Carrey began publicly addressing the hollowness behind the glamour. By the mid-2010s, his outlook had noticeably changed. His 2017 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! — marked by a rugged beard and introspective humor — signaled his gradual detachment from Hollywood’s expectations. Later that same year, he made headlines for dismissing New York Fashion Week as “deliberately frivolous,” a comment that reflected his growing rejection of celebrity superficiality.
This transformation followed a difficult period in his life. In 2015, Carrey’s former girlfriend, makeup artist Cathriona White, passed away in a tragedy that deeply affected him. Amid the personal and legal turmoil that followed, he withdrew further from the public eye, finding healing through painting and spiritual introspection.
During an interview with Access Hollywood, he shared his new outlook: “I’m taking a break. I really like my quiet life, and I really love putting paint on canvas, and I really love my spiritual life […] This is something you might never hear another celebrity say as long as time exists, uh, I have enough, I’ve done enough, I am enough.”
What began as a break from the screen evolved into a complete lifestyle change — one that saw Carrey selling his longtime Brentwood home and relocating to a serene waterfront residence in Maui, Hawaii.