Jim Carrey: ‘I Cannot Support’ Violence in ‘Kick-Ass 2’

Jim Carrey has pulled support for Kick-Ass 2 despite his starring role in the film, citing the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 20 students and six adults dead last December. “I did Kick-Ass a month [before] Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence,” Carrey tweeted. “I meant to say my apologies to others [involved] with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart.”

Kick-Ass 2, based on Mark Millar’s comic book series, boasts flashy, stylized violence and plenty of it. The film’s stars, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass) and Chloë Grace Moretz (Hit-Girl), are also notably young actors for such violent roles; Moretz was only 13 years old when the first film was released. Carrey, who has been a vocal supporter of gun control, plays new hero Colonel Stars and Stripes, who forms a team with Kick-Ass.

Summer Movie Preview 2013: ‘Kick-Ass 2’

Millar, who also serves as executive producer for the films, was “baffled” by Carrey’s decision. “As you may know, Jim is a passionate advocate of gun control and I respect both his politics and his opinion, but I’m baffled by this sudden announcement as nothing seen in this picture wasn’t in the screenplay 18 months ago,” he wrote in a forum on his website. “Yes, the body-count is very high, but a movie called Kick-Ass 2 really has to do what it says on the tin.”

He continued, “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.” He finished by asking Carrey to reconsider. “Ultimately, this is his decision, but I’ve never quite bought the notion that violence in fiction leads to violence in real-life any more than Harry Potter casting a spell creates more Boy Wizards in real life,” Millar wrote.

Kick-Ass 2 opens August 16th.