How Jim Carrey’s father inspired his entire acting career
While the contemporary landscape of comedy is always changing and evolving, it’s fair to say that newer generations of comedians will always be indebted to pioneers such as Jim Carrey. The star of beloved mainstream projects like Ace Ventura and surreal, transgressive masterpieces such as The Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Carrey’s unique approach to both comedy and acting made many re-examine their own definitions of their craft.
Capable of conveying the most bizarre emotional undercurrents solely through his incredibly diverse facial expressions, Carrey perfectly utilised his body language to add several layers of complexity to his sense of humour. Channelling extreme psychological spheres through his powerful method acting in films like Man on the Moon, Carrey’s comedic foundations have often been described as “slapstick”, but there’s always more to it.
Although the Dumb and Dumber actor has drawn from a wide range of artistic inspirations throughout his illustrious career, there’s one person who will always be the starting point for all his comedic endeavours. That figure is none other than his own father, who not only helped Carrey set up his first stage acts by driving him around Toronto but also inspired him to think about the basics of character work in new and exciting contexts.
During an interview, Carrey revealed that he still looks back to his father for new performances: “He was an amazing, incredible character. I’m always drawing on my father to play characters. He was the kind of guy who, if you talked to him for five minutes, you felt like you knew him for 50 years… I would watch him hold court in the living room. People invariably left holding their bellies and going, ‘Percy, you missed your calling’.”
In a separate speech for a commencement address, Carrey revealed: “My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn’t believe that that was possible for him, and so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant, and when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job, and our family had to do whatever we could to survive. I learned many great lessons from my father. Not the least of which was that: You can fail at what you don’t want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”
It was his father who opened up Carrey’s acting horizons, leading him to discover the great work of other pioneers like Andy Kaufman. After revitalising the latter half of his career with an acclaimed antagonistic performance in the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, Carrey announced last year that he was going to take a long hiatus from acting because he feels like he has “done enough”. Even if he never appears before a camera again, the Bruce Almighty actor’s legacy is more than secure in the hearts of fans all over the world.
Watch the commencement speech below.
