Jim
Carrey
Award-Winning Actor & Comedian
Rodney Respect Award
Jim
Carrey will next be seen in Robert Zemeckis’ “A CHRISTMAS CAROL”, an
adaptation of the Charles Dickens tale for Walt Disney Pictures. In the
film Carrey plays Ebenezer Scrooge and the three ghosts that haunt him.
Zemeckis shot the film using "performance capture/Disney digital 3-D"
animation; it will be released on November 6, 2009.
Carrey next stars in “I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS” a dark comedy that was
written and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, the writing team
behind "Bad Santa." Based on a book by Houston Chronicle crime reporter
Steve McVicker, the fact-based film casts Carrey as Steven Russell, a
family man whose exploits in white-collar crime land him in the Texas
criminal justice system. In prison he falls in love with his cellmate (Ewan
McGregor), who eventually is set free, leading Russell to escape from
Texas prisons four times. The film will be released in 2010.
Carrey was last seen on screen in the hit Warner Bros. comedy “YES MAN”
directed by Peyton Reed. In the film, based on a memoir by British
author Danny Wallace, Carrey stars as a man who decides to change his
life by saying yes to absolutely everything that comes his way. The film
co-stars Zooey Deschanel and Bradley Cooper.
In 2008 Carrey was heard as the voice of Horton the Elephant in the
blockbuster hit “HORTON HEARS A WHO!” 20th Century Fox’s CG animated
feature film version of Dr. Seuss’ classic book.
In 2007 Carrey starred opposite Virginia Madsen in the New Line
psychological thriller “The Number 23”, directed by Joel Schumacher. In
2005 he starred opposite Tea Leoni in the highly successful Columbia
Pictures/Sony comedy “Fun with Dick and Jane.” The film was directed by
Dean Parisot (“Galaxy Quest”) and produced by Brian Grazer. In 2004 he
starred in the Paramount Pictures’ film “Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of
Unfortunate Events” based on the children’s book series by Daniel
Handler, as well as the critically acclaimed Focus Features’ drama
“Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.”
In 2003, he starred in the hugely successful Universal Pictures’ comedy
“Bruce Almighty.” The film, which has made over $470 million dollars
worldwide, was one of the highest grossing films of the year. “Bruce
Almighty” also reunited Carrey with director Tom Shadyac (“Ace Ventura:
Pet Detective” & “Liar, Liar”) and writer Steve Oedekerk (“Ace Ventura:
When Nature Calls”).
In 2001, Carrey starred in the Castle Rock feature “The Majestic,”
directed by Frank Darabont, and in 2000 he had the distinction of
appearing in the year’s highest grossing film; the Universal Pictures’
release “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.” He was nominated for a Golden
Globe in the category of Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or
Comedy for his portrayal of the Grinch, as well as a People’s Choice
Award in the category of Favorite Motion Picture Star in a Comedy.
In the summer of 2000, Carrey reunited with directors Peter and Bobby
Farrelly for the 20th Century Fox comedy “Me, Myself and Irene,” for
which he received an MTV Movie Award nomination in the category of Best
Comedic Performance for his portrayal of a split personality in the
film. He also won the Golden Globe in 2000 for Best Actor in a Motion
Picture – Musical or Comedy for his portrayal of Andy Kaufman in the
1999 film “Man on the Moon.” He had won a Golden Globe Award the
previous year for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama for his role in
the critically acclaimed film “The Truman Show.” The 1999 Golden Globe
win marked Carrey’s first award for a dramatic role. He also received a
Golden Globe nomination in 1997 for Best Actor in a Motion Picture
Musical or Comedy for “Liar, Liar,” the same category in which he was
nominated in 1995 for “The Mask.” In 2000, he was named Male Star of the
Year at ShoWest.
Born January 17, 1962 in Newmarket, Ontario, Jim Carrey knew by age
three that show business was in his blood. At age 15, Carrey took off
for Toronto to perform at Yuk Yuks, the famous comedy club. Following
the performance, Carrey’s career took off and for the next few years he
worked in comedy clubs all over Canada. In 1981, at age 19, he packed
his belongings and moved to Los Angeles. Carrey immediately became a
regular at Mitzi Shore’s Comedy Store, attracting the attention of
comedy legend Rodney Dangerfield. Dangerfield was so impressed with the
young comic that they began touring together. It was then that things
began to happen for Jim Carrey.
1982 proved to be a magical year for Carrey when MTM cast him as the
star of their NBC series “Duck Factory.” Although the series only lasted
13 weeks, Carrey’s work left a lasting impression in Hollywood. The next
year he landed the lead role in the feature film “Once Bitten,” starring
Lauren Hutton. He followed that film with roles in Francis Ford
Coppola’s “Peggy Sue Got Married,” and the Geena Davis comedy “Earth
Girls Are Easy.” In 1988, Carrey made a brief, but memorable, appearance
as Johnny Squares, the self-destructive rock star in the Clint Eastwood
film “The Dead Pool.”
In 1990, Carrey joined the cast of Fox Television’s ensemble comedy hit
“In Living Color.” In November of the following year, his first Showtime
Special, entitled “Jim Carrey’s Unnatural Act,” premiered to rave
reviews. He followed the special’s success with a starring role as an
alcoholic trying to cope with life in Fox’s Emmy nominated movie of the
week “Doing Time on Maple Drive.”
In 1994, after several successful seasons on “In Living Color,” Carrey
once again branched out into feature films by accepting the lead role in
the Warner Bros. comedy “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.” Carrey’s no holds
barred portrayal of “Ace Ventura” made him an instant sensation and made
the film a hit. Carrey followed that success in the summer of 1994 by
starring in the title role of the action fantasy “The Mask,” based on
the best selling Dark Horse comic book series of the same name. “The
Mask” went on to gross in excess of $100 million domestically, winning
spectacular reviews for Carrey. That same year he starred opposite Jeff
Daniels in the Farrelly brothers’ film “Dumb and Dumber.” Carrey starred
as the Riddler/Edward Nygma in the 1995 blockbuster sequel “Batman
Forever.” The following year he went on to star in “Ace Ventura: When
Nature Calls,” continuing the misadventures of the world’s favorite pet
detective, and then starred in Columbia Pictures’ “The Cable Guy.”
Universal Pictures hit “Liar, Liar,” which opened to record breaking
numbers in 1997 earning over $100 million in ticket grosses. His
triumphant triple play earned him the honor of NATO/ShoWest Comedy Star
of the Year.