Jim Carrey Explores His Internal Evil Genius In Sonic The Hedgehog 2 - Exclusive
Jim Carrey rose to prominence playing some very sweet but not especially bright characters in movies like "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "Dumb and Dumber." While their antics were always hilarious, part of these characters' charms was their innocent idiocy, a trait that endeared them to audiences everywhere. But Carrey never limited himself to playing individuals on one side of the intelligence spectrum. In fact, he has also played the other extreme — over-the-top evil geniuses like the Riddler in "Batman Forever" and, most recently, Dr. Robotnik in "Sonic the Hedgehog" and its sequel.
Carrey's interpretation of Dr. Robotnik has made a particular impression, with the beloved actor bringing his signature brand of comedy to the character while also infusing him with an unnerving menace that makes it clear that he'll stop at nothing to reach his nefarious goals. And in "Sonic the Hedgehog 2," Dr. Robotnik's goal is nothing less than world domination. Carrey sat down with Looper to discuss his work as both very smart and very dumb characters as well as how he sees his role in "Sonic the Hedgehog 2."
Carrey enjoys playing the intelligence spectrum
Jim Carrey admitted that he enjoys playing both impressively intelligent and supremely stupid because it gives him the opportunity to explore these two sides of himself. "I think smart and completely dumb are essential parts of my character in life and they assert themselves individually from time to time," Carrey confessed. "Sometimes, you do things in your life and you think, 'Well, maybe I'm a pretty smart animal,' and then there are other times you go, 'No, I haven't learned a thing.' It's a great thing to be able to play the spectrum, and to be thought of that way is wonderful."
Of course, when it came to embodying the evil genius Dr. Robotnik, Carrey joked, "I had to dumb it down a little bit to play a guy with a 300 IQ ..."
Carrey went on to reveal that he sees his character in the "Sonic the Hedgehog" movies as the dastardly counterpoint to Sonic's wide-eyed enthusiasm. "This character's so much fun," Carrey shared about Dr. Robotnik, "and he's the contrast to Sonic. The important thing about this movie is that Sonic is that preteen innocence and lack of skepticism that enjoys everything that's happening in the zeitgeist going past. He goes, 'Oh, I want to play with that, and I want to play with that.' He's not afraid of a damn thing."
Carrey explained that while families are rooting for Sonic, it's his job to provide laughs and throw in some slightly more sophisticated moments to keep the parents in the audience entertained. "Through this movie ... parents get to look and remind themselves of what it was like to be [open and unjaded]. The kids, they get to see this wonderful, innocent energy winning against this scary monster," Carrey noted. "I hope they get laughs. I'm in the movie to give parents something to do as well as make the kids laugh. I try to have my stuff mean more than one thing every once in a while."
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" is now playing in theaters.