Jim Carrey has been active in the stand-up comedy circuit and in Hollywood for nearly 40 years.
He's made audiences cry with laughter with his outrageously over-the-top, yet brilliantly weird performances in Ace Ventura, Bruce Almighty, Man on the Moon, The Mask and The Truman Show - and even just as himself during his stand-up comedy routines.
But behind the zany persona that the 55-year-old actor has outwardly projected during his time in Hollywood, Carrey has been battling some serious inner demons.
Credit: PA
The Canadian star has opened up about his history with depression and how he feels he's more or less won the war against his mind. He told the i: "I'm free of the business. I'm not the business. I don't care what people think of me after I die. All I want is for people to think of me as a good energy here, a nice fragrance that has been left behind."
"At this point, I don't have depression. There is not an experience of depression.
"I had that for years, but now, when the rain comes, it rains, but it doesn't stay. It doesn't stay long enough to immerse me and drown me anymore."
He used to manage his depression with medication like Prozac, however he found there were too many ups and downs and not enough consistency. He told CBS in 2004: "It feels like a low level of despair you live in. Where you're not getting any answers, but you're living OK. And you can smile at the office. You know? But it's a low level of despair."
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Credit: PA
The Golden Globe winner says he now doesn't take anything these days to affect his mood, which means no alcohol, no drugs and not even coffee. He also opened up about his recent foray into art and how difficult it is to show the finished product to the public.
Carrey explained: "Everything I do risks the total destruction of the piece. I'm often going, 'God damn it, if this doesn't work, I've put so much effort into this painting.'
"But if you don't do it, you'll never reach some sublime thing - you know, something that will really touch someone. Those are always the risks that go to the edge of destroying something you really care about."
The legendary actor also explains how people have tried to break off a 'piece of the Holy Grail' from him for themselves recently. But his admission that he's managed to get a hold of his depression is welcome news to his millions of fans the world over.
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'U OK M8?' is an initiative from LADbible in partnership with a range of mental health charities which features a series of films and stories to raise awareness of mental health.
Explore more here and don't suffer in silence. Reach out. It's the brave thing to do.
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Featured Image Credit: PA
Topics: U OK M8, Entertainment, Celebrity, Mental Health, US Entertainment, jim carrey, Depression