The Real Reason Jonathan Torrens Left Trailer Park Boys
Considering the fact that "Trailer Park Boys" was on air for a whopping 13 seasons, it's understandable that the show's cast would undergo significant changes as time went on. Characters came and went with each passing season, and by the end of it all the series was missing several of its most iconic characters, one being the infamous J-Roc (Jonathan Torrens), who had been a mainstay of the show since day one.
J-Roc is an aspiring rapper who lives in the trailer park with his mother, and is easily one of the most ridiculous (and hilarious) characters the show has ever produced. Alongside his best friend Tyrone and his cronies (affectionately known as the "Roc Pile") J-Roc spent the first 11 seasons of the series spouting off ridiculous catchphrases and trying to convince the rest of the trailer park that he was black, despite being a white man in his late 30s (via the Trailer Park wiki). Season 9 introduced us to J-Roc's illegitimate son Mitch, and by the start of Season 11 it was revealed that he had left the trailer park off-screen to raise Mitch in a different environment.
It's a surprisingly mature move for the man who once recorded a sex tape called "From Russia With The Love Bone," and while the real reason J-Roc is no longer on "Trailer Park Boys" is still very understandable, we have to admit that it is a bit disappointing.
Torrens felt that there was nowhere left to take J-Roc's story
During an episode of the "Taggart and Torrens" podcast (starring Torrens himself, as well as his friend and fellow comedian Jeremy Taggart), Torrens revealed that his decision to leave the series revolved around the fact that he had outgrown the character, both physically and mentally. Torrens joked about how hard it was to keep playing a gangster as he entered his 40s, and went on that by the time Season 11 came around, there really wasn't a lot left to tell when it came to J-Roc's character. We had watched him grow from an unintelligible buffoon into a (somewhat) responsible husband and father, and at a certain point there was nowhere new that J-Roc's story could go.
Torrens felt that it was better to move on and explore other roles rather than to continue on with a character that couldn't break any new ground, and said that he was still very happy that he left the show when he did. That said, Torrens also reiterated how grateful he was for the fans of the series and for how beloved the character was. Now that the series is switching to animation, perhaps Torrens' age won't be so much of a problem, and he could return in a small cameo somewhere down the road.