Canadian actor Jim Carrey has shared astonishing new details about the extreme lengths he went to in order to survive playing the Grinch in the 2000 film How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
The film was a box office hit, earning $346 million worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing movie of the year in the US.
But behind the scenes, the experience was “excruciating” for Carrey, who found the process so torturous he nearly quit after his first eight-hour day in the makeup chair.
“I was ready to give my $20 million back”, he told Vulture.
The transformation was brutal. Carrey’s nose was sealed under prosthetics, forcing him to mouth-breathe for the entire shoot.
“The suit was made of unnervingly itchy yak hair that drove me insane all day long,” he said.
“I had ten-inch-long fingers, so I couldn’t scratch myself or touch my face or do 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.”
The discomfort triggered panic attacks during early filming.
Director Ron Howard recalled seeing Carrey lying on the floor between takes with a paper bag, trying to calm himself.
“He was miserable,” Howard said.
Producers feared Carrey would quit, so they brought in an expert who trained CIA operatives and Navy SEALs to endure torture.
Richard Marcinko, who would go on to found SEAL Team Six, taught Carrey a variety of coping techniques for when he 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,” he said.
“There are pictures of me as the Grinch sitting in a director’s chair with a long cigarette holder. I had to have the holder, because the yak hair would catch on fire if it got too close.”
However, Carrey said what helped him through the makeup process the most was the music of the Bee Gees.
“I listened through the makeup process to the entire Bee Gees catalogue. Their music is so joyful. I’ve never met Barry Gibb, but I want to thank him.”
