A
new Netflix documentary has been released that shows everyone's actor/comedian
Jim Carrey spending four months living in character, on and off camera.
Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond tells the unseen story of the filming of Man on the Moon - a film about the life of comedian Andy Kaufman.
Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond
Advert
Filmmaker Chris Smith sat through over 100 hours of (potentially painful) footage shot behind the scenes of the 1999 movie to see Carrey play a role he said was "...out of my control".
Looking for more serious roles after starring in blockbusters like Ace Ventura and The Mask, Carrey filmed his own audition tape to prove he was up to the job.
What followed next was absolute madness. Carrey/Kaufman would spend hours living as Andy at home, on set, and even when meeting Kaufman's estranged daughter, which was presumably a bit weird, even by his high standards.
Credit: Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond
Advert
During the whole shoot, he was filmed by Kaufman's old writing partner Bob Zmuda and this footage eventually found its way into the hands of Jackass producer Spike Jonze, who passed it to Smith.
Smith said: "One of the things that attracted me to the project was I didn't know that much about Jim. There was a real opportunity to give context to the choices he made and his body of work."
One of Carrey's favourite tricks was to pretend to be Tony Clifton, a hard-drinking, rude, lounge singer created by Kaufman.
Carrey would play Clifton for days at a time, shouting and swearing at his director, Academy Award winner Milos Forman.
Advert
The weirdest bit about the whole affair is that, once finished with the film, Carrey stepped back out of character, refusing to return even when R.E.M wrote a song for the film's soundtrack.
The studio refused to release the backstage footage for fears that the public might think the Carrey was actually a dick, rather than just acting like one.
Now, though, the film has been released and Smith thinks we can all learn from watching the chaos of Carrey/Kaufman:
"I think there's oddly a lot of life lessons in this movie and I think one of them is just this idea of not holding onto things from the past but actually moving forward," he said.
Advert
"I personally think he really tried to do justice to Andy's legacy and I think he really felt that this was the right way to do that.
"When Jim Carrey says he wants to do something, who is going to stop him?"
Featured Image Credit: Jim and Andy: The Great BeyondTopics: TV and Film, Celebrity, jim carrey