The remarkable record that proves Jim Carrey is a Hollywood icon
Jim Carrey is one of the most beloved actors of the last three decades, with arguably the most hilariously expressive face that the big screen has ever witnessed. While his career is so diverse, Carrey first gained notoriety after he performed on the American sketch show In Living Colour.
Carrey’s success on In Living Colour and his unique approach to comedy – with high energy and elements of slapstick – led to future roles in Hollywood blockbuster comedies, such as Me, Myself and Irene, Liar Liar and Bruce Almighty. However, Carrey was not necessarily typecast; he could also perform in dramatic roles with an envious adeptness, for example, in The Truman Show, Man on the Moon and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
While In Living Colour helped Carrey to earn recognition, nothing would help to make him the genuinely bankable star that he became in the 1990s and 2000s. 1994 was the year of Carrey’s breakthrough into the Hollywood mainstream, and he didn’t look back from there.
Amazingly, in just an 11-month period, Carrey managed to star in three box office smash hits; The Mask, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Dumb and Dumber. Remarkably, all three films went to number one in 1994, making Carrey the first actor to have three films top of the charts in the same year. If that doesn’t prove Carrey’s absolute ingenuity, then nothing will.
Of Ace Ventura’s success, Carrey said: “I knew this movie was going to either be something that people really went for, or it was going to ruin me completely. From the beginning of my involvement, I said that the character had to be rock ‘n’ roll. He had to be the 007 of pet detectives. I wanted to be unstoppably ridiculous, and they let me go wild.”
“For me, it was a complete ego trip to become Ace,” he added. “He’s got all the fast, funny answers to every situation. He can fight. He can make love. He’s the best. He’s completely happy with his lot in life and just wants to keep his pets well-fed.”
What’s more, is that Carrey arguably played four roles across those three films. As well as the titular pet detective and the daft Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber, Carrey amazingly played two characters in The Mask; Stanley Ipkiss, the hapless bank clerk, and his alter ego, the titular mask, who is the polar opposite of Ipkiss, exuding confidence where Ipkiss is shy.
Jim Carrey is simply endless, and the fact that he was the first actor to achieve such a feat solidifies his legendary status in the Hollywood canon.
