“Mr. Popper’s Penguins” star Jim Carrey dove into being a grandfather after his daughter, Jane, gave birth to Jackson Riley Santana last year, and the actor admitted to Access Hollywood he already has big plans for the toddler.
“When it happened, oh my gosh, it was just like an explosion of pure bliss,” Jim said of becoming a grandfather to the now 14-month-old. “He is the coolest dude on earth, unless he gets tired and then he’s a marauding maniac… He’s so clued in and we play soccer together and he’s really coordinated, it’s amazing.
“I’m going, ‘Get him in! Get him in!’” Jim laughed of his encouragement toward Jackson. “I’m the grandfather that wants to improve him and stuff like that. ‘Start reading to him right now! While he’s playing soccer! He must be a super being!’”
Adoring the tot was easy, but Jim admitted that it took a little while for the news to sink in.
“What happened to me is, first of all, it was like, ‘Grandfather? Really? Wow. Let me process that one.’ And my publicist called immediately (puts on funny voice) ‘Are you serious!’ It was like, ‘You can’t you can’t ever tell anyone! John Lennon was never married,’” Jim said, making a reference to the late Beatle, who was advised not to promote his relationship with his first wife, Cynthia Lennon.
Despite his new familial ties, Jim wasn’t looking to make a family film, but when the script for “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” came up, he couldn’t say no to a project with the wobbly creatures.
“I’ve always loved penguins, that’s why I did the movie in the first place,” he said. “Without fail, they are puppies times 10. They are pure love. You just can’t resist them.”
“Mr. Popper’s Penguins” stars Jim as a businessman who inherits six penguins. The movie also stars Carla Gugino, Angela Lansbury and Jennifer Grey’s main squeeze Clark Gregg, but it was the Canadian actor who went home with the most bruises.
“They’re not trainable at all,” he said of the Antarctic creatures he spent so much time on screen with. “They don’t know the difference between a finger and a fish because I was bloodied constantly.”
“Mr. Popper’s Penguins” hits theaters on June 17.
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