Andy Kaufman: The icon Jim Carrey called an ‘anti-comedian’
Jim Carrey is a multifaceted figure in the entertainment industry. Although primarily known for his comedic performances in iconic roles such as The Mask, Ace Ventura, and Bruce Almighty, Carrey isn’t afraid to explore darker and more dramatic roles. Moreover, his inspirations extend beyond the realm of comedy. In fact, he has expressed admiration for a particular star whom he considers an “anti-comedian”.
For those who perceive Jim Carrey solely as a comedic actor, it’s certainly worthwhile to explore his more serious roles. In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, his portrayal of Joel Barish offers a poignant exploration of heartbreak and the evolving nature of memory. Another standout dramatic performance from Carrey is found in Man On The Moon, where he pays homage to the unconventional life of one of his heroes, Andy Kaufman.
Kaufman was a comedian, but he hated that word. Instead, he said, “I am not a comic. I have never told a joke. The comedian’s promise is that he will go out there and make you laugh with him. My only promise is that I will try to entertain you as best I can.”
His career was always more avant-garde and stranger than any typical comics, carving out his own space with dry humour, stupid characters and even a career-long practical joke as he would routinely turn up to events as Tony Clifton, a rude lounge singer character, without warning anyone.
To Carrey, Kaufman was the ultimate ‘anti-comedian’ who helped flip the comedy world on his head as he focussed on humour in general over traditional jokes. Kaufman, by his own admission, wasn’t interested in being a comic. Instead, he was a more comprehensive public figure that no one could pin down or ever truly understand, as his characters and routines mixed up facts from his own life with fiction. It was hard to ever really know what about Kaufman was true or false.
That included Carrey, who played the figure in the biographical film Man On The Moon. You’d think playing a famous funny man would be a joyful experience, but instead, the movie seemed to unsettle the actor. As his career began to stray away from typically comedic roles and he became increasingly interested in more left-field humour like Kaufman’s, playing the role became all-consuming. When he decided to method act the character, he even picked up Kaufman’s mannerisms and developed tics, seemingly losing himself inside the figure.
“I don’t feel like I made the film at all. I feel like Andy made the film,” he told the Hollywood Reporter. Just as how Kaufman had messed around with fact and fiction, even leading to questions of whether he was still alive and faked his own death for an extended joke, Carrey lost himself too.
“It was definitely an important moment in the process where I found myself subjugating Jim Carrey for Andy Kaufman and Tony Clifton. And then at the end of it, looking for Jim Carrey again and having trouble finding him,” Carrey explained. “And at a certain point, I realised, ‘Hey, wait a second. If it’s so easy to lose Jim Carrey, who the hell is Jim Carrey?’ And there was this Spielbergian kind of rack focus at that point where, like Roy Scheider on a beach, I was kind of watching from another place.”
While it’s true that every actor’s goal is to lose themselves in a role and fully embody their character, it seemed like Carrey might have got in too deep when it came to playing the strange ‘anti-comedian’. In his documentary, Jim & Andy, there was the suggestion that after method acting Kaufman and becoming the figure so intensely, he may never have been able to stop, suggesting the comedian not only inspired him before but has informed every step he’s made since.
