Jim Carrey was ready to hand back the $20 million (roughly £14.9 million nowadays) he was paid to play the Grinch.
Oh yep, finding himself practically ‘tortured’ to play the redeemed villain in the legendary Christmas movies, he almost quit on the very first day of filming.
And I mean, thank goodness he didn’t – it’s easily one of the 63-year-old’s most iconic film roles.
Even a whole 25 years on, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is many people’s favourite at this time of year and it simply wouldn’t be the same without Carrey in that incredible makeup and prosthetics. But the actor has been open about how ‘excruciating’ that process was and it turns out he ended up getting help from a guy who helps train people on enduring ‘torture’.
Advert
So, it's not totally surprising he has pretty strict conditions for if the Grinch was to ever return.
The Grinch’s makeup
Rick Baker won an Oscar for his work as a makeup effects artist on the movie and revealed that the studio had initially offered to just have Carrey simply painted green.
“But it’s not ‘How the Green Jim Carrey Stole Christmas.’ It’s ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas.’ He should look like a fantasy character,” he told Vulture.
So, Baker pulled some strings, tested out some Grinch makeup on himself, and eventually ‘they caved in’ and gave up on a just ‘green Jim Carrey’.
And it seems the actor himself was just on board with it – whether he went on to regret that choice or not.
Carrey’s ‘excruciating pain’
“They had a real problem trying to get holes in the mask that could allow me to breathe through my nose,” Carrey said. “Ultimately, I ended up mouth-breathing through the entire movie.”
The actor added that the suit was ‘made of unnervingly itchy yak hair’ which drove him ‘insane’, on top of the ten-inch-long fingers that prohibited him from doing ‘anything’.
“I had teeth that I had to find a way to speak around, and I had full contact lenses that covered the entire eyeball, and I could only see a tiny tunnel in front of me,” Carrey continued.
But he admits he can’t blame anyone as you’ve ‘got to be careful what you ask for’.
“You don’t think about it when you see an actor do a part that is about excruciating pain or whatever,” Carrey added.” But that actor has to live in that feeling. They don’t just go home and suddenly stop feeling it.”
Saying he was ‘having panic attacks’ and ‘was miserable’ in the early days of filming, Howard said Carrey threatened to quit after ‘eight hours’ in makeup on day one: “He was ready to give his $20 million back! I mean, he was sincere.”
Torture training
Eventually, someone was brought on set to prevent the star from quitting and to help him deal with the transformation.
“Richard Marcinko was a gentleman that trained CIA officers and special-ops people how to endure torture,” Carrey explained. “He gave me a litany of things that I could do when I began to spiral. Like punch myself in the leg as hard as I can. Have a friend that I trust and punch him in the arm. Eat everything in sight. Changing patterns in the room. If there’s a TV on when you start to spiral, turn it off and turn the radio on. Smoke cigarettes as much as possible.”
Carrey did also credit the Bee Gees for helping him as he listened to their music to get through the makeup process.
Topics: Christmas, Jim Carrey, TV and Film, Film
Jess Battison