The True Man Jim Carrey

Q: You became friends with the star of that film, Nicolas Cage. You've said that Cage is "the Picasso of what we're trying to do." Meaning?

A: He was the first guy I saw in a really big-money situation still experimenting, still going, "I'm gonna take huge risks with this." A lot of people felt he ruined Peggy Sue Got Married by talking like Pokey through the whole movie. Francis's take on it was, when Brando came to do The Godfather and he did that voice, they said he was making fun of the movie and they wanted him out. It turned out to be a classic. You just don't know. It takes huge guts for a filmmaker like Francis Coppola to go, "I don't know." He believes in giving actors enough rope to swing to the next tree or hang themselves. And Nic was an incredibly brave artist. I sat back and said, "Here's a guy who's got his big chance, and that's what he's doing with it." When I got $7 million for Dumb & Dumber, and I started thinking, "Now do I get safe and do that $7 million performance?" I realized through examples like Nic's that you can't start asking whether it's worth $7 million, or you're dead.

Q: How safe was it to talk through your ass in Ace Ventura, Pet Detective?

A: That was out of rebellion. That was something I used to do around the set of In Living Color a lot. I would talk through my ass to people when I didn't like what was going on. I'd go [bends over] "Disagree, disagree."

Q: How did you take the reception of The Cable Guy?

A: Obviously you want everything you do to be magnificently welcomed. It was an interesting thing to watch, because the film was misperceived. The promotion was wrong--they wanted to get those people in on the first weekend, so they built it up as "Jim Carrey, Have Some Fun," but they brought them in to see the Devil. When it was over I thought, Well, they took a lot of shots at me, but they have to. It's, like, time to do it. And maybe this is good for the next thing I do. I think Liar Liar had a windfall from that, because people were relieved that I was nice again.

Q: What attracted you to Liar Liar?

A: The concept. How much do we lie to our kids? How much lying is OK? How much lying goes on in the world? People are saying the president should come out and say, "I did it. So what?" That sounds well and good, but we've gotten to a point in this country where the worst possible thing you can do is admit that you made a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes, but we're in this impossible place where we can't admit it.

Q: How did The Cable Guy do in the end?

A: They made some pocket change. I loved The Cable Guy. It made people uncomfortable. I don't want to be somebody's stuffed animal all the time. I want to be somebody's stuffed animal and at the same time I want them to be scared that I'm under the bed.

Q: You had that edge when you were on In Living Color.

A: Sure. A lot of times I went home thinking I was going to go to hell. [As an angel] "St. Peter, you want to introduce this next clip? This is where he called Arsenio a black bastard at the height of the L.A. riots."

Q: Speaking of Arsenio, describe when you went on his show and wet your pants.

A: That was the follow-up show. The first week was when I walked out with a bottle of wine and laid on the couch like I was drunk. I was screaming and slurring that I was on hiatus and what the hell did it matter? It was insane. I went way over the top and everyone thought it was real. People were calling, saying, "What's wrong with Jim? Is he OK? Do we need to get him some help?" [Laughs]

Q: How did Arsenio handle it?

A: He knew I was going to do something but didn't know what. He went with it and was very cool about it. And that was at the height of the riots, and I took a swing at him and said it was for Reginald Denny. Afterwards my manager went, "I don't know man, that was a rough one." I went, "It's theater. It's interesting."

Q: Then you returned and wet your pants?

A: On the follow-up show I had Arsenio say that I was really freaked out because there was a lot of bad reaction from the week before. So I walked out and stood frozen in the spotlight while they applauded. I had a little squeegee bottle in my pocket and made it look like I was peeing in my pants. It got laughs. There was a time there when I wanted to make people think I was insane.

Q: Like Andy Kaufman used to do?

A: Andy Kaufman was a completely inspired human being. He, at his own peril, decided to be the only comedian to never let the audience in on the joke. Comics look at that and go, OK, we've got to build a statue to this guy because he's saying everything that's lurking around in there.

Q: You're going to play Andy Kaufman in a movie about his life. What made you feel you could do this role?

A: On first appearances, I don't look that much like Andy, but I know where his essence comes from, and I'm a huge admirer. So when [director] Milos [Forman] asked people to make a videotape, I looked at it as an opportunity to prove I could do it, not only to Milos, but to myself. And after it was done, I felt satisfied.

Q: How aggressive is stand-up?

A: It's brutal. It's the morgue. When something happens in the world, it's taken to the comedy club and they do an autopsy. They figure out who's wrong, who's right, who's to be judged, who's to be made fun of. If there's not a joke about the space shuttle blowing up three hours after it happens, then you're not in a comedy club.

Q: Rodney Dangerfield said he brought you down from Canada to Caesars in Vegas, to the Universal Amphitheater, and to Atlantic City. Does he deserve credit for discovering you?

A: Yeah, sure. As far as my first benefactor, somebody who even during the time when I was trying to find myself was supporting me, Rodney was there. He recognized what I was going through. He went, "OK, so you're trying to find some stuff now, right? Go man." Most of the people at the time were saying, "You're blowing this."

Q: Would you agree with Robin Williams that fame leads to drugs?

A: That's when you're going all the time and you need "planned vacations." That's what that becomes. People get into the trap of, I have to feel happy now.

Q: Do you have moments when you have to feel happy?

A: I've had these Wave of Pain parties with friends, where we just sit there and go, "OK, I'm bummed out, are you bummed out? Yeah? Fucking super-bummed. Let's sit here and just feel the waves of pain." You have to feel stuff. Otherwise you wake up and you're 70 and you go, I never got to the next level.

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