STACK #123 Jan 2015

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.

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 .

Carrey on laughing: In Living Colour (1985)

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.

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