Jim Carrey praised after Grinch fans realise iconic scene wasn’t scripted

Jim Carrey has got plenty of awards reminding him what a great actor he is, but he can also just scroll through online comments if he fancies a quick ego boost.

That's because social media users haven't stopped applauding his improvisation skills after people realised that an iconic scene featured in How the Grinch Stole Christmas wasn't actually part of the script.

Have a look here:

There are many memorable moments in the legendary festive film, based on Dr Seuss' 1957 children's book, which follows the Grinch's mission to sabotage Whoville's holiday fun.

Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman wrote the screenplay for the movie which was released 23 years ago and littered it with comedic lines for the stroppy Scrooge-like protagonist to deliver.

Carrey did a great job of bringing the grumpy green character to life, but he didn't always stick to the script.

The actor, 61, was forced to think on his feet during one hilarious scene where the Grinch was taking a look at his 'busy' schedule while attempting to find an outfit to go out in.

The people of Whoville had sent him a last-minute invite them to join him for some festive fun at their 'Holiday Cheermeister', but as we all can all recall, he has nothing to wear and his diary is chock-a-block.

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You know the bit - "One o'clock, wallow in self-pity. Four thirty, stare into the abyss. Five o'clock, solve world hunger - tell no one. Five thirty, Jazz-ercise. Six thirty, dinner with me. I can't cancel that again! Seven o'clock, wrestle with my self-loathing...I'm booked!"

The Grinch turns to a tablecloth to save him from his fashion nightmare, which is lay over a table covered in pots, pans and God knows what else.

Carrey trots over to the table inside his Mount Crumpit cave and rips it clean off - expertly performing the tablecloth trick, as all the bits and bobs remain perfectly in place. But that wasn't how the scene was supposed to happen.

Universal

The Christmas-hating creature was actually meant to create a complete mess when dragging the fabric off to make himself a DIY dress - I mean kilt, sorry.

To the film crews surprise, Carrey was a tablecloth trick master and didn't disturb a single dish, despite the fact he was directed to send everything flying.

But instead of calling 'cut' and reshooting the scene, the quick-thinking star ad libbed his way through it on the spot.

After walking out of shot, he then ran back towards the table and threw its contents onto the ground - before flipping the entire table for good measure.

Carrey previously told Entertainment Tonight that 'there was lots of improv' in the festive family favourite.

"Like the moment of the behind the screen dressing thing that was not a planned thing," he added. "It was, just you know, I just thought it’ll be funny to just have this monster transformation that you want to see how it turns out."

Social media users said it 'made the scene even better' to know that Carrey came up with it himself.

One wrote: "This is why Jim Carrey is the goat. Made it way funnier and it was ad libbed?"

Another said: "And it became one of the best scenes!"

A third added: "The fact that he pulled the table down too - legendary."

A fourth chimed in: "This is my favourite scene in the movie."

And a fifth added: "No way...that is improv at it's best! Bravo."