Five actors who almost took classic Jim Carrey roles
Some performers are, quite simply, unique in every way. Indeed, it will be unlikely that we’ll ever get anyone similar to Marlon Brando again, and the same can be said for the likes of Robin Williams and Jim Carrey, two icons of comedy who had the ability to lift the mood of an entire auditorium. Never recognised at the Oscars for his work on the silver screen, Carrey gave audiences some of the greatest comedy performances of all time, from Stanley Ipkiss in The Mask to his depiction of Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon.
A generational talent who became a hero for many, Carrey defined the comedy of the 1990s alongside a host of other Hollywood talents, making it the bizarre, bombastic landscape of cinematic experimentation that it eventually became. As the new millennium turned, however, Carrey turned his attention to the world of drama, with The Truman Show sparking the career change.
But, make no mistake, Carrey had to plough his own path in Hollywood, constantly vying for roles alongside some of the industry’s greatest talents. His role in 1994’s Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, which would catapult him to international fame, for example, was almost claimed by none other than Rick Moranis, who was the studio’s first choice, only for the iconic Ghostbusters star to turn down the gig.
Such hurdles were consistent in Carrey’s career, too, with Carrey having to navigate the fact that he wasn’t the first choice for 1994’s Dumb and Dumber either, with the celebrated comedian Steve Martin being the preferred option. Initially wanting to go for a recognised comedian in the lead role, thankfully, directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly decided on a straight man in Jeff Daniels and a zany humorist in the form of Carrey.
By the mid-1990s, Carrey was, no doubt, a bonafide star, but this didn’t mean he walked into roles with Robin Williams desperate to appear as the Riddler in Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever. Despite being extremely keen to take on the role, Williams stepped back due to being disappointed that the Riddler in the script was too intellectual and not as comedic as he had been in the 1960s Batman TV show.
The decade was a competitive one for comedic actors in particular. One year after the release of Batman Forever, Carrey signed on for the subversive genre flick The Cable Guy, directed by Ben Stiller. Originally intended for Chris Farley, who was later forced to step down because of scheduling difficulties, Carrey made the role of the Cable Guy his own, giving him an unhinged insanity that couldn’t be matched elsewhere.
In the 21st century, Carrey wasn’t quite as dominant and has since been open in his struggles with the weight of his celebrity status. Financial and critical successes came, but they were few and far between, shining in films like Bruce Almighty and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind before losing prominence in the 2010’s, even struggling to secure the lead role in 2011’s Mr Popper’s Penguins.
It was the aforementioned actor and director Ben Stiller who was supposed to take his place, with the star having planned to adapt the children’s book alongside the award-winning screenwriter Noah Baumbach. Yet, when their bizarre version of the tale was ultimately dumped, Carrey stepped in to take the gig, doing his career no particular favours in the long run.
Actors who almost took classic Jim Carrey roles:
- Chris Farley – The Cable Guy (Ben Stiller, 1996)
- Steve Martin – Dumb and Dumber (Peter and Bobby Farrelly, 1994)
- Rick Moranis – Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (Tom Shadyac, 1994)
- Ben Stiller – Mr Popper’s Penguins (Mark Waters, 2011)
- Robin Williams – Batman Forever (Joel Schumacher, 1995)
