How to make $5,000 for not appearing in a Jim Carrey movie: “Absolutely the right call”
For almost two decades, Jim Carrey was adamant that he didn’t want to star in any sequels. In the most ironic turnaround of the actor and comedian’s career, he’s seemingly decided that the only thing he wants to star in are sequels.
After Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls was released in 1996, the Canadian funnyman refused to reprise any of his most memorable roles. This being Hollywood, though, follow-ups to his biggest hits were made without him, and the unifying theme was that they were all terrible.
The unnecessary prequel Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, the kid-centric Ace Ventura, Jr: Pet Detective, the catastrophic box office bomb Evan Almighty, and the wretched Son of the Mask proved that nobody knew how to make a decent Carrey sequel sans the leading man, and audiences couldn’t have given less of a shit about watching them.
However, returning to one of his three 1994 breakout roles in Dumb and Dumber To clearly lit a fire under the rubber-faced pratfaller, who quickly followed it up with Kick-Ass 2, which he admittedly disowned, a cameo in Anchorman 2, and three Sonic the Hedgehog movies. At one stage, New Line Cinema was so confident in The Mask spawning a franchise that the studio offered a part in the film to a competition winner.
In October 1995, Nintendo Power magazine revealed that one lucky reader would be featured onscreen in The Mask 2, in what was a pretty high-profile prize, considering the first film made a killing at the box office and helped transform Carrey into an almost overnight superstar.
Of course, the second chapter never made it past the starting line, and the magazine eventually issued an apology for offering a prize that didn’t, or would never, exist… 17 years later, when Nintendo Power published its final issue in December 2012. Meanwhile, Nathan Ryan Runk had the unique distinction of being the only person on the planet guaranteed a role in the Carrey-fronted Mask 2.
Admittedly, it’s an entirely pointless and wholly useless accolade, but he did eventually receive a reward. He was sent a goody bag with an estimated value of $5,000, which he gleefully accepted instead of spending the rest of his life waiting for a walk-on part in The Mask 2 that may or may not have ever happened.
“They gave me the option to wait indefinitely or take the cash,” he told Destructoid. “I took the cash. Absolutely the right call!” By the time Son of the Mask entered development in the early 2000s, Runk had been lost to history as the only confirmed cast member of a movie that technically never existed, but he was understandably glad that he wasn’t forced into wasting his prize on a cinematic abomination.
“I would have likely been OK with doing a walk-on in Son of the Mask because, at the time, I didn’t know how bad it was going to be,” he shared with the benefit of hindsight. “Knowing what I do now and even if that were an option, I’m glad I went with the money.”
The increasingly sequel-happy Carrey has hinted that he’d be open to playing Stanley Ipkiss again, but if he did, Runk, who spent 17 years longer on the waiting list than the actor, has lost his chance at a cameo.
