NEW BOOK by Actor Jim Carrey - Roland Rolls - Interview

Jim Carrey's book, How Roland Rolls, is the story of a wave who 

comes to understand that he is not alone to rise and crash, 

but rather part of the larger ocean. 

Q: What made you want to

write a picture book versus something for older kids?

JC: I wanted to be a part

of that wonderful moment where parents read story books at night. 

When there's nothing else but you and the person you love most sharing 

a common experience. I also think that beautiful illustrations capture 

everyone's imagination. And at a very early age a silly little picture book 

can introduce kids to the fantasy world that worlds and thoughts create.

Q: How does the role of author compare to that

of actor?

JC: Acting is a very communal art form. There is surprisingly little control 

over the final product. The role of author seems more direct to me. An 

opportunity to play writer, director, and ensemble all at once. It's also 

like playing the part of midwife to something that might never have been 

born without you.  It's primitive in a narrative sense like telling a story 

around the camp fire with love, levity and warm intent.

Q: You've said that story is 'the way we order life, the way we'd like it to be.' 

If you could live out one story, what would it be and why?  

JC: Crime and Punishment (joke). I would be Howard Roark and not 

Peter Keating in The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I've already lived 

out The Great Gatsby and still I beat on, boats

against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

Q: What do you most want the kids and parents who read Roland Rolls 

to take away from the story?

JC: What I want children and parents to take away most from 

How Roland Rolls is a knowledge of their larger self and a sense of safety 

for both knowing that as they turn off the lights and go to their own beds there will 

never really be any separation between them.

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