Jim Carrey’s desperation to play the role that gave Matt Damon everything he ever wanted: “Never went anywhere”
Despite being two completely different actors who found success through opposite means and have never shared a single scene together in their careers, there have nonetheless been a couple of ‘ships in the night’ moments between Jim Carrey and Matt Damon.
The most notable is the leading role in Frank Darabont’s The Majestic, where the former played Peter Appleton. It was originally offered to the latter first, and he was glad he turned it down, which turned out to be prophetic when the film lost tens of millions of dollars at the box office and was cold-shouldered by critics.
Damon was still a part of the movie, though, albeit as a voice-only cameo. Towards the end of the last century, Carrey was making a concerted effort to try to branch out from his signature comedic persona, which was a hit-or-miss endeavour. Yes, The Truman Show is a classic, but The Majestic and Man on the Moon were not, and part of his newfound desire to play it straight saw him set one character in his sights.
In the late 1990s, Anthony Minghella began developing an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, The Talented Mr Ripley. Based on the success of a recent release that had taken the cinematic world by storm, there was only one actor he envisioned as playing the deceitful and duplicitous title character.
Unfortunately, Titanic star Leonardo DiCaprio said no, which sent the production back to the drawing board. Catching wind of the goings-on, Carrey pitched himself hard as Ripley. Producer William Horberg revealed to Vanity Fair that The Mask and Ace Ventura frontman “really wanted” the part, but conceded that the discussions between them “never went anywhere.”
As was often the case whenever his grubby fingers were involved, The Talented Mr Ripley didn’t take shape until Harvey Weinstein muscled his way in. He recruited Damon, having backed Good Will Hunting, and also brought in Gwyneth Paltrow, who he’d cast as the lead in the upcoming Shakespeare in Love.
With Carrey left on the outside looking in, the movie gave its new leading man everything he’d ever wanted. The Academy Award-winning screenwriter explained that his post-Oscar choices were driven by “a script that I like, a good director, and a good role,” saying he’d normally “settle for any two of those.”
However, The Talented Mr Ripley hit the trifecta, with Damon admitting that “all three is really hard to come by.” Not only that, but it gave him a platform to show that Good Will Hunting wasn’t a flash in the pan moment, and his performance remains one of the best he’s ever given, not to mention a personal favourite.
In another world, it could have been Carrey as Tom Ripley. In all honesty, it’s not impossible to imagine him pulling it off, but he didn’t let the setback affect him. Instead, The Truman Show was his big showcase of 1998, where he delivered career-best work, won a Golden Globe for ‘Best Actor – Drama’, and was egregiously snubbed by the Oscars for a turn that deserved a nomination at the very least.
