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Jim Carrey may not be perfect, but he has made me laugh on many occasions. And we all need to laugh once in a while in a tense world. Someone who brings laughter is a bringer of love in the world – so Jim Carey gets a post!
James Eugene Carrey (/ˈkæri/; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy television series In Living Color (1990–1994). He broke out as a star in motion pictures with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask and Dumb and Dumber (all 1994). This was followed up with Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Batman Forever (both 1995) and Liar Liar (1997).
In the 2000s, he gained further notice for his portrayal of the Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas and for the comedy Me, Myself & Irene (both in 2000), as well as Bruce Almighty (2003), Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), Yes Man, Horton Hears a Who! (both 2008), and A Christmas Carol (2009).
In the 2010s, Carrey appeared in the films Mr. Popper’s Penguins (2011), The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Kick-Ass 2 (both 2013), Dumb and Dumber To (2014), and portrayed Leap Day William in the sitcom 30 Rock (2012). In 2020, he portrayed Dr. Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog and its 2022 sequel and Joe Biden in six episodes of Saturday Night Live in the leadup to the 2020 United States presidential election.
Although largely typecast as a comedic actor, Carrey has had success in dramatic roles. His first dramatic success was for starring in the Emmy-nominated made-for-television film Doing Time on Maple Drive (1992). Carrey gained attention for his leading roles in The Truman Show (1998) and Man on the Moon (1999), earning Golden Globe Awards for each film.
He later starred in the psychological science fiction romantic drama film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004); this performance is repeatedly lauded as the seminal in Carrey’s career and for which he was nominated for both the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and another Golden Globe Award. He was also praised for his dramatic role of Jeff Piccirillo in the Showtime tragicomedy series Kidding (2018, 2020), for which he was nominated for another Golden Globe. Multiple film critics and media outlets have cited Carrey as one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.
In 2006, Carrey received a Grammy award nomination for Best Spoken Word Album for Children. In 2013, Carrey published his first book, a children’s story titled How Roland Rolls, which was awarded a 2013 Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award. In 2020, Carrey published his first novel, Memoirs and Misinformation, which he co-authored with Dana Vachon.
Jim Carrey’s Top Performances
1. Liar Liar (1997)
Now, hear me out. Liar Liar might not have the dramatic heft of a Truman Show or an Eternal Sunset. And it might not have the all-out laser focus of Dumb and Dumber or Ace Ventura. But it is nevertheless Carrey’s best film. Imagine another actor trying to do what Carrey does here, essentially spending an hour and a half possessed by a spirit that prevents him from lying. Imagine how flat and uninteresting it would be.
Now, go back and watch Liar Liar. Watch Carrey writhe and contort in the fruitless pursuit of a lie. Watch it take over his entire body. Better yet, this film gave him a family for the first time, rooting his mania in something identifiable. At this stage in his career, Carrey was pumping out films at a prodigious rate – this was his seventh in three years – and he was figuring out new moves at every turn. In Liar Liar, he figured out the impossible: how to be a human being.
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Until this point, every Carrey performance had been an assault; either through physical comedy or sledgehammer sincerity, they grabbed you by the throat and refused to let you go. But here, for the first time, we saw Carrey without the affectations. He is small here, almost to the point of not existing, which is fitting since the real star of this movie is Michel Gondry’s kaleidoscope of melancholic whimsy, as written by Charlie Kaufman.
Until this point Carrey was a classic overachiever, spending a decade showing us what he could do. Here, he showed you what happened when he didn’t do anything at all. Annoyingly, it was just as good.
3. The Truman Show (1998)
This is the film where everything went right. The Truman Show has a crackerjack logline – a man realises that he has spent his life on a TV set as the unwitting star of a long-running series and tries to break free – an honest, sympathetic script that still allows space for Carrey to do his thing, and fastidiously unshowy direction. You sense that Carrey has always longed for a Groundhog Day; a high-concept movie packed with universal truths that allows him to be sincere and zany in equal measure. The Truman Show is not quite there, but it comes awfully close at times.