Jim Carrey: Difference between revisions

[[File:jim-carrey.jpg|framethumb|Jim Carrey!]]

{{quote|"''Somebody stop me!''"|'''[[The Mask (Filmfilm)|The Mask]]'''}}

[[Jim Carrey]] is a colorful actor with a face for molding, and often plays the central or main character in a show. He had been acting since the mid-1980s, most notably in the short-lived sitcom ''The Duck Factory'', but came to attention as a [[Token White]] cast member on ''[[In Living Color]]'' who managed to hold his own with several popular sketch characters, most famously Fire Marshall Bill.

When the small-scale ''[[Ace Ventura|Ace Ventura - Pet Detective]]'' arrived on movie screens in early 1994, it was roasted by critics but proved to be a surprisingly big hit. As it happened, he did two other films that year (''[[The Mask (Filmfilm)|The Mask]]'' and ''[[Dumb and Dumber]]'') and was soon an A-list performer, in essence the first big film comedy star of the 1990s. He has played many classic characters, and his involvement in a movie will often be a success - so successful, the subsequent films and series usually don't do as well because he is not in it. This is because after ''Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls'' was such a huge flop in comparison to the original, he pledged never to do a sequel again.

Starting with ''[[The Truman Show (Film)|The Truman Show]]'', he has successfully made the transition to more serious films, with ''[[Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind]]'' probably his most lauded serious role. It hasn't stopped him from appearing in goofy comedy as well, though, and nowadays he's well respected both aspects of his acting range. While not as popular as he was at his height in [[The Nineties]], his career has proven surprisingly durable.

In his early days performing stand-up comedy, Carrey reportedly wrote himself a check for almost $1,000,000 and promised himself that he would, one day, be able to cash it. That promise was fulfilled soon after his performance in ''[[The Mask (Filmfilm)|The Mask]]'' and ''[[Dumb and Dumber]]'', though by that point, he had already earned several orders of magnitude more than the check itself was worth.

* Stanley Ipkiss/The Mask - ''[[The Mask (Filmfilm)|The Mask]]'' (First film of franchise)

* Edward Nygma/The Riddler - ''[[Batman Forever (Film)|Batman Forever]]'' (Third film of franchise)

* Truman Burbank - ''[[The Truman Show (Film)|The Truman Show]]'' (won the Golden Globe for Best Actor- Drama)

* [[Andy Kaufman]]/[[Alter Ego Acting|Tony Clifton]] - ''[[Man Onon the Moon]]'' (won the Golden Globe for Best Actor- Comedy)

* The Grinch - ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Filmfilm)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]''

* Horton - ''[[Horton Hears a Who!]]!''

* [[Adam Westing]] and [[Self-Deprecation]]: He's often poked fun at his goofy/LargeHam[[Large Ham]] reputation.

** From ''[[Batman Forever]]'': "Was that over the top? I can never tell!"

** In his first ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' appearance (1996), the ''Joe Pesci Show'' skit he appeared in had him playing Jimmy Stewart... while another performer played Jim Carrey. "Stewart" is appalled by "Carrey" ("Smoke a lot of dope, do you son?") and mocks him as a diva who "needs attention twenty-four hours a day!"

** When he didn't get an Oscar nomination for ''[[The Truman Show]]'', he still agreed to present an award. He pretended to break down into self-pitying tears during his intro. He was asked to participate in a gag the following year during [[Billy Crystal]]'s opening film montage segment to poke fun at not being nominated for ''[[Man on the Moon]]'', but declined.

** In ''[[Liar Liar]]'', there's a scene where Carrey's eight-year-old son has discovered that his father can't lie, and is asking Carrey if various parenting cliches are true. The last one is:

{{quote| '''Max:''' If I keep making this face ''(makes a face)'' will it get stuck that way?<br />

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7StsXTQhYs This clip] from ''[[Late Night with Conan O'Brien]]'' is ostensibly from a [[Biopic]] with Carrey playing Conan (this was when ''[[Man Onon the Moon]]'' was new), and Carrey!Conan acts as if he holds a grudge against the actor. At the three-minute mark, Carrey!Conan makes fun of the facial contortions and catchphrases of ''[[Ace Ventura]]'' and ''[[The Mask (film)|The Mask]]''.

* [[Black Comedy]] - ''[[The Cable Guy]]'', in which his character turns out to be a stalker.

** ''[[Fun Withwith Dick and Jane]]''

** "Sssssssssssmokin'!" (''[[The Mask (Filmfilm)|The Mask]]'')

** "[[The Lone Ranger|Hi-ho Silver! Away!]]" (He says this in both ''[[Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls]]'' and ''[[Bruce Almighty]]'', despite playing a different character in each.)

* [[Fake American]]: He's actually from Ontario, [[Canada]], though he is a naturalized American with dual citizenship.

* [[Hilarious Outtakes]]: ''Liar Liar'' and ''Bruce Almighty'' run them over their respective end credits (the latter has additional outtakes on its DVD), the ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Filmfilm)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]'' DVD has an outtakes reel as a bonus feature, and before any of those was the ''[[In Living Color]]'' bloopers episode, where one montage focused just on him getting the giggles during various skits.

* [[Slapstick]]: The modern master of the form. To the point where, during one scene in [[Fun Withwith Dick and Jane]], where he fell to the ground accidentally, he turned it into a joke. This included catching himself an inch from slamming his face into the ground.

* [[Smite Me, OhO Mighty Smiter!]]: He's was the one who said it in [[Bruce Almighty|the movie]] that is the [[Trope Namer]]. [[The Truman Show (Film)|Twice.]]

** The first actor to headline three #1-opening movies in one year.{{verify}} And he did it in his first three movies as a mainstream film actor. How about Star Making ''Year''?

* [[What Could Have Been]]:* Carrey was originally supposed to be a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' when the original cast left in 1980 and Jean Doumanian was hired to create a new "Not Ready for Primetime" cast for the sixth season. Considering how terrible the 1980-1981 season was and how most of the cast has faded into obscurity, it was probably a good thing he wasn't picked.

** Plus,[[The the Wachowski BrothersWachowskis]] wanted him to play [[Plastic Man]] in the never-made film based on their script. Which, even if the script was kinda crappy, would STILL''still'' have been epic.

[[Category:JimPages Carreywith working Wikipedia tabs]]