Jim Carrey is open to reprising his role as Stanley Ipkiss in a The Mask sequel. In a new interview with ComicBook.com, the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 star teased that he would be interested in returning as the mild-mannered bank clerk-turned green-faced troublemaker in a possible The Mask 2 if the idea is right.
“Oh gosh, you know, it has to be the right idea. If somebody had the right idea, I guess,” Carrey said. “It’s not really about the money. I joke about the money… But I never know. You can’t be definite about these things.”
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Hitting theaters on July 29, 1994 as an adaptation of the Dark Horse Comics series by the same name, created by Mike Richardson, The Mask centers around Carrey’s Stanley Ipkiss, an ordinary bank teller whose life is upended when he finds a magical wooden mask that contains the spirit of the Norse god Loki. While wearing the mask, Ipkiss transforms into a trickster exuding charm and confidence, leading to plenty of trouble.
While The Mask became a blockbuster with $351 million at the worldwide box office, Carrey turned down a $10 million offer to star in the 2005 sequel, Son of the Mask, which starred Jamie Kennedy, Alan Cumming, Traylor Howard, Kal Penn, Steven Wright, and Bob Hoskins. Unlike the first movie, the sequel was a flop, only grossing $59.9 million against its $84–100 million budget.
Carrey eyeing a possible return to The Mask comes just two years after he said he was retiring from acting. In an interview with Access Hollywood in April 2022, the actor said, “I have enough. I’ve done enough. I am enough.” When asked if the retirement would be permanent with no exceptions, he added, “It depends. If the angels bring some sort of script that’s written in gold ink that says to me that it’s going to be really important for people to see, I might continue down the road, but I’m taking a break.”
However, it seems that Carrey is backtracking on those remarks. He told ComicBook, “I said I’d like to retire, but I think I was talking more about power-resting. Because as soon as a good idea comes your way, or a group of people that you really enjoyed working with and stuff, things tend to change.”
The actor, who is currently promoting Sonic The Hedgehog 3, is considering revisiting some of his past roles as he looks to continue his acting career. He also told ComicBook that he’d also be interested in reprising his role as the Grinch in a sequel to 2004’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but only if the film used CGI and motion capture t avoid the “excruciating” hours-long makeup process to turn him into the green, furry, pot-bellied Grinch.
