Jim Carrey regrets role in one of his most action packed film due to timing, post-Sandy Hook massacre; defended by creators.
Jim Carrey, renowned for his roles in beloved films like "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "The Truman Show," expressed regret over his involvement in one particular movie. Despite his versatile performances, there's a role Carrey wishes he hadn't taken on, and it might have slipped under your radar.
For fans of "Kick-Ass," this might come as a disappointment. Carrey, playing the character Sal Bertolinni, also known as Colonel Stars and Stripes, a former hitman turned Christian vigilante in the 2013 sequel, has since expressed reservations about his participation.
In his portrayal of Colonel Stars and Stripes, Carrey delivers a compelling performance, as expected of him. However, what prompted his regret regarding the film wasn't necessarily its quality but rather the timing. "Kick-Ass 2" was filmed just a month before the tragic Sandy Hook Massacre, where a lone gunman took the lives of 26 individuals at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
This devastating event deeply affected Carrey, as it did the nation, leading him to reconsider his involvement in films featuring excessive violence.
Carrey expressed his remorse in June 2013 on X, stating that he couldn't, in good conscience, support the level of violence depicted in the movie, and he extended his apologies to those involved in its production.
The actor said: "I did Kick-Ass a month before Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence.
"I meant to say my apologies to others involve [sic] with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart."
However, Carrey's stance faced criticism from Mark Millar, the Scottish comic-book writer and executive producer of "Kick-Ass 2," who pointed out that the film's content was consistent with the original screenplay, and Carrey was aware of it.
Millar emphasized that while he and Carrey shared a distaste for real-life violence, "Kick-Ass 2" was a work of fiction meant to entertain, not a documentary.
"[I'm] baffled by this sudden announcement as nothing seen in this picture wasn't in the screenplay 18 months ago.
"Yes, the body count is very high, but a movie called Kick-Ass 2 really has to do what it says on the tin. A sequel to the picture that gave us Hit Girl was always going to have some blood on the floor and this should have been no shock to a guy who enjoyed the first movie so much…
"Like Jim, I'm horrified by real-life violence (even though I'm Scottish), but Kick-Ass 2 isn't a documentary. No actors were harmed in the making of this production!
"This is fiction and like Tarantino and Peckinpah, Scorsese and Eastwood, John Boorman, Oliver Stone and Chan-wook Park, Kick-Ass avoids the usual bloodless bodycount of most big summer pictures and focuses instead of the CONSEQUENCES of violence…
"Our job as storytellers is to entertain and our toolbox can't be sabotaged by curtailing the use of guns in an action movie."
In essence, Carrey's regret stemmed not from the film's quality but from the unfortunate timing of its release in the aftermath of a national tragedy.
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