How the Grinch Stole Christmas is an iconic holiday movie, but for Jim Carrey, who plays the green creature, it is, in short, a nightmare.
This discomfort stems from an effort to bring authenticity to the character Dr. Seuss created. For example, the lengthy makeup sessions, elaborate prosthetics, and heavy costumes.
“The suit was made of unnervingly itchy yak hair that drove me insane all day long,” Jim tells Vulture. “I had 10-inch-long fingers, so I couldn’t scratch myself or touch my face or do anything."
In addition, to the itchy costume and long fingers, the actor explains that his eyes and teeth were affected as well.
"I had teeth that I had to find a way to speak around, and I had full contact lenses that covered the entire eyeball, and I could only see a tiny tunnel in front of me.”
It became too hard for Jim, so he decided to quit and was even ready to return the $20 million pay cheque with interest, director Ron Howard recalls in the interview. But the filmmaker had an idea.
“Brian found a guy who trained the military on enduring imprisonment and torture,” he says, referring to producer Brian Grazer roping in Richard Marcinko, who was a founder of U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6, to help the actor endure.
The Mask star says he is “a gentleman who trained CIA officers and special-ops people how to endure torture."
His advice, Jim remembers, was to use several ways to cope with the issues he was experiencing. “He gave me a litany of things that I could do when I began to spiral. Like, punch myself in the leg as hard as I can."
"Have a friend that I trust and punch him in the arm. Eat everything in sight. Changing patterns in the room. If there’s a TV on when you start to spiral, turn it off and turn the radio on," the actor adds.
He continues, "Smoke cigarettes as much as possible. There are pictures of me as the Grinch sitting in a director’s chair with a long cigarette holder. I had to have the holder, because the yak hair would catch on fire if it got too close.”
But in the end, the patience and hard work paid off as How the Stole Christmas became a cult-classic hit.
As Jim adds, “Though it was a struggle, it’s such an honor to have been that character. It’s just the most beautiful story in the world, how badly we need people to open their hearts."
"It’s always going to get you. Many of us are walking around with a desiccated heart right now," he concludes.
