Why Jim Carrey Is Taking a Break From Hollywood After ‘Sonic 2’ (Exclusive)

Jim Carrey is stepping away from the screen -- for now. ET's Denny Directo spoke to the funny man at the premiere of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in Los Angeles Tuesday, where he addressed comments that he's taking a break from acting after the highly-anticipated sequel.

"I gotta get out of here before I slap someone," Carrey joked. "Honestly, I feel like there's so many things, because I've been so busy for so long, important things that I've ignored. Like, there's 25 years of Mystery Science Theater I have to catch up on. And there's painting. I do paint. I'm gonna be putting out NFTs. I'll announce that on Twitter soon. And that's kinda fun for me still."

"Other than that, I'm going to strive for un-exceptionalism," he continued. "I want to be frighteningly normal. Nothing going on. Whole lotta nothing."

In the sequel, Carrey reprises his role as the film's villain, Dr. Robotnik, who this time, teams up with Knuckles (Idris Elba) to capture a powerful emerald that has the capability to destroy civilizations -- that is, if Sonic doesn't beat him to the punch and save the day. 

Dr. Robotnik marks only the third time Carrey has reprised a role and returned for a sequel, a rarity for the 60-year-old actor, who only participated in sequels for Dumb & Dumber and Ace Ventura.

"I don't know. I can't serve the same stale dinner," Carrey said about his reluctance to take some of his beloved characters farther than a part two. "I always felt like the time for now is to do something new. New now. If I spent all my time doing -- I could've done several sequels for several characters -- but I felt like life is too short. I want to move on, I want to create. I want to annoy people that are businessmen that want to take advantage of me."

"I just want to keep changing. Morphing. Challenging people," he added.

A challenge Carrey has taken on is learning some dance moves from his grandson, Jack, who was in attendance at Tuesday night's premiere. The 12-year-old taught Carrey how to "Floss," which Dr. Robotnik is seen doing in the sequel.

"I still do the dance, but I don't do the actual teeth thing," Carrey joked.

While the comedian couldn't help but gush over Jack, Carrey did share that his grandson is very critical of him.

"He is very critical of everything I do," Carrey shared. "He rolls his eyes at me."

Jack is still a kid at heart though, Carrey said.

"He was gonna wear it tonight. He left his tie at my house, and it was his favorite tie. It's a cat, Santa tie. Little kitty cats with Santa on it," he described. "It's kinda nice. He still has it. Beautiful kind of innocence."

See Carrey "Floss" and much more when Sonic the Hedgehog 2 hits theaters April 8.

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