21 / 68
TELEVISION
In 1984, Carrey landed the lead role
in
The Duck Factory
, a sitcom set in
a struggling animation studio. The
show was cancelled after just one
season, but it did open doors into the
movie business for the young comic.
After appearing with Damon Wayans
in
Earth Girls Are Easy
(1988), Carrey
was offered a recurring role on sketch
comedy series
In Living Colour
–
created by Wayans and his brother
Keenen Ivory – where he remained
a semi-regular cast member for
three seasons. His other notable TV
credits include the telemovie
Doing
Time on Maple Drive
(1992) and an
appearance on the US version of
The
Office
, in the 2011 episode entitled
Search Committee
.
DUMB AND DUMBER TO
Christmas continues into January:
Lloyd Christmas, that is. Older and
dumber, the institutionalised Lloyd
(Carrey) and buddy Harry (Jeff
Daniels) hit the road again after 20
years – and a lot of pressure from
fans of the original film – in search
of the daughter Harry never knew he
had. This is Carrey’s first sequel since
1995’s
Ace Ventura: When Nature
Calls
, and when asked at the movie’s
US press conference why he finally
agreed to reprise the role of Lloyd,
he revealed that he simply wanted to
hang out with the old gang [Daniels
and the Farrellys] again. “It’s just really
about that. I wanted to go have some
fun and do something dumb. Also, the
audience who saw [
Dumb & Dumber
]
as kids has grown up. It’s a new
audience to have fun with.” Hilarity
will ensue in cinemas on January 8.
receiving a Golden Globe nomination for Best
Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical
for his performance as a lawyer unable to lie
for a day.
After a string of comedy smash hits it was
time for the obligatory “dramatic role”, and
Carrey found it in Peter Weir’s
The Truman
Show
(1998). Having been reminded of
Charlie Chaplin whilst watching
Ace Ventura,
the director cast him as the title character,
whose entire life is a reality TV series. His
performance was awarded with a Golden
Globe, but not an Oscar – a snub which
reportedly irked the star.
Carrey was also strangely overlooked by the
Academy for his subsequent ‘serious’ role as
comedian Andy Kaufman in the biopic
Man on
the Moon
(1999), which netted him another
Golden Globe. The actor was reportedly
very method in his approach to playing the
legendary stand-up comic, only answering to
the name Andy Kaufman whilst on the set.
The ‘00s
“It’s nice to finally get scripts offered
to me that aren’t the ones Tom Hanks
wipes his butt with.”
Me, Myself and Irene
(2000) reunited
Carrey with the Farrelly brothers and resulted
in a short-term engagement to co-star Renée
Zellweger. His rubberface emoting and flair
for physical comedy was put into overdrive
in the role of a state trooper with a multiple
personality disorder.
An arduous, three-hour makeup job
transformed the actor into a beloved Dr. Seuss
character for Ron Howard’s
How the Grinch
Stole Christmas
(2000), another box office hit
that spent four weeks in the No.1 position.
Carrey next took the lead in Frank
Darabont’s epic period drama
The Majestic
(2001) – a film designed as Oscar bait, but was
instead a critical and box office disaster.
He bounced back with
Bruce Almighty
in 2003, playing a TV reporter given the
opportunity to be God for a week. His third
collaboration with director Tom Shadyac
proved another winner at the box office, and
spawned a sequel in 2007,
Evan Almighty
,
featuring his co-star Steve Carell in the lead.
Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman’s
surreal
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind
(2004) cast him against type in a mind-
bending romantic fantasy involving memory
erasure. Unlike its high concept, the film
proved particularly memorable and enjoys
a cult-like popularity today. Moreover, the
experience left Carrey in a reflective mood
over his own past failed relationships, which
included two divorces.
Carrey was then back in the makeup chair
for another lengthy session, adding to his
resume of popular children’s book characters
as the villainous Count Olaf in
Lemony
Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
(2004). He also voiced the character for the
video game tie-in.
The comedy caper
Fun with Dick and
Jane
(2005), a remake of the 1977 film
starring George Segal and Jane Fonda, cast
Carrey and Téa Leone as the husband and wife
who turn to a life of crime to make ends meet.
Carrey played it straight as the obsessive
protagonist of the moody but ridiculous thriller
The Number 23
(2007) – his second film with
Batman Forever
director Joel Schumacher.
The movie didn’t do the same kind of business
though, taking a mere $35 million in US box
office – a total of $12 million more than Carrey
was paid for the role, which earned him a
Razzie nomination.
The following year, the actor found himself
back in the world of Dr. Seuss to voice
the eponymous elephant in the animated
adaptation of
Horton Hears a Who!
(2008),
and returned to
Liar Liar
territory in
Yes
Man
(2008), based on Danny Wallace’s
autobiographical book. Carrey deferred his
usual massive salary for a percentage of the
film’s profits – fortunately it was another box
office hit.
I Love You Philip Morris
(2009), based
on the true life escapades of gay con artist
Steven Jay Russell, saw Carrey romancing
fellow prison inmate Ewan McGregor. The
release was delayed due to problems finding a
distributor and legal strife, but finally received
a limited run in the US in 2010.
From the Grinch to Scrooge: Carrey upset
Christmas once again in Robert Zemeckis’s
mo-cap version of the Charles Dickens
classic
A Christmas Carol
(2009) – a role that
challenged him vocally with English and Irish
accents.
The ‘10s
“I don’t care if people think I am an
overactor, as long as they enjoy what
I do.”
Carrey seized the opportunity to reprise
a Dick Van Dyke/Mary Poppins moment in
the kids’ flick
Mr. Poppers Penguins
(2011),
playing the titular real estate entrepreneur who
inherits six of the birds from his late father.
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
(2013)
found him back alongside
Bruce Almighty
co-
star Steve Carell, this time as a Criss Angel-like
nemesis to Carell’s Vegas illusionist. (He would
also make an uncredited cameo in
Anchorman
2
the same year).
In a much publicised bit of casting, Carrey
joined the DIY crimefighter line-up of
Kick-Ass
2
(2013) as Colonel Stars and Stripes, leader
of the Justice Forever team. However, in the
tragic aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary
School shooting of December 2012, he
refused to promote the graphically violent
movie. “I did Kick Ass a month before Sandy
Hook and now in all good conscience, I cannot
support that level of violence,” he explained.
“My apologies to others involved with the film.
I am not ashamed of it but recent events have
caused a change in my heart.”
Despite an aversion to doing sequels, fan
pressure finally convinced him to reprise the
role of Lloyd Christmas in
Dumb & Dumber To
(2014) – see right.
021
Carrey on laughing:
In Living Colour
(1985)