Jim Carrey recounts the terrifying time he only had ‘10 minutes to live’

By Malavika Pradeep

Published Oct 18, 2022 at 11:19 AM

Reading time: 1 minute

37383

Canadian-American actor and comedian Jim Carrey is well-known for his energetic slapstick performances and irreplaceable roles in movies that continue to grip generations. The star has also been open about his battle with depression behind the scenes and, more recently, recounted the terrifying time when he was told that he only had “ten minutes to live.”

Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the comedian and now New York Times best-selling author shared that the cover of his new book represented his face while he was grappling with the concept of impending doom.

Carrey went on to reveal that he was in Hawaii with his daughter while writing his autobiographical novel Memoirs and Misinformation when his assistant called him in tears to tell him that they had “ten minutes left” and the “missiles are coming.” The actor was referring to the time in 2018 when chaos ensued after the state of Hawaii’s emergency alert system sent a mass text that read: “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.”

“My brain started winding,” Carrey admitted. Unable to get off the island with his daughter, he recalled thinking, “I don’t want to die in my car.” He then said he had a moment where he just “looked out at the ocean” and pondered what he could do with “the last moment of my time.” 

“I just decided to go over a list of gratitudes… I could not stop thinking about wonderful things that have happened to me and blessings that I’ve had,” Carrey continued, adding that “it was lovely” and he finally “got to a point of grace with two minutes to spare,” when he learned the missile was a false alarm.

After a whopping 40 minutes of the first text terrifying the citizens of Hawaii, a second message was broadcast clarifying that the original warning was sent in error because an employee merely “pressed the wrong button.”

“All I was planning to do was close my eyes and be thankful because it’s been a good ride,” Carrey admitted. I’d have probably done the same, Mr. Carrey—after uploading a series of ‘last sunset in Hawaii’ images onto Reddit’s r/collapse and r/natureisbeautiful, that is.

Keep On Reading

By Charlie Sawyer

Johnny Depp plays the victim once more and anoints himself crash test dummy for #MeToo

By Charlie Sawyer

Why Sabrina Carpenter’s sexuality is praised and Lola Young’s is picked apart

By Eliza Frost

Bad Bunny is not touring the US due to fear of ICE raids at concerts

By Eliza Frost

Controversial American Apparel owner just opened LA Apparel in NYC and TikTok girlies are flocking to shop

By Eliza Frost

Sabrina Carpenter says you need to get out more if you think Man’s Best Friend artwork is controversial 

By Eliza Frost

American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney face backlash with employee’s LinkedIn post adding fuel to the fire

By Eliza Frost

All the Easter eggs from the first episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3

By Alma Fabiani

Amazon Music is giving away 4 months free. Here’s how to claim it

By Eliza Frost

What is the Gen Z stare, and why are millennials on TikTok so bothered by it?

By Eliza Frost

How to spot a performative male out in the wild 

By Eliza Frost

Kylie Jenner now follows Timothée Chalamet on Instagram, but he doesn’t follow her back

By Eliza Frost

Are you in Group 7? Explaining the latest viral TikTok trend

By Eliza Frost

Will Belly choose herself in the final episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty?

By Eliza Frost

Online pornography showing choking to be made illegal, says government 

By Eliza Frost

Netflix is predicting your next favourite show based on your zodiac sign 

By Eliza Frost

UK to lower voting age to 16 by next election. A controversial move, but the right one

By Eliza Frost

Gavin Casalegno calls out Team Jeremiah bullying in The Summer I Turned Pretty fandom

By Eliza Frost

Do artists really owe us surprise guests at gigs, or are our expectations out of control?

By Eliza Frost

Black cat boyfriends are in to replace golden retriever boyfriends, but are they just emotionally unavailable men in disguise?

By Eliza Frost

Taylor Swift’s Release Party of a Showgirl is coming to cinemas everywhere, and it’s already made $15M