A man with military training in “enduring torture” was hired to help Jim Carrey on set of The Grinch after the lengthy make-up and costume transformation caused him panic attacks.
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Jim Carrey recently sat down Vulture for a 25th anniversary retrospective on the making of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Ron Howard’s 2000 film adaptation of Dr Seuss’s 1957 children’s book.
The movie was a massive box office hit, earning $346 million worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing film of 2000 domestically, but by the same token, was said to be a horrific experience for Carrey, given he was adamant about undergoing a full transformation into the character.
“The suit was made of unnervingly itchy yak hair that drove me insane all day long,” Carrey said. “I had ten-inch-long fingers, so I couldn’t scratch myself or touch my face or do anything. 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.”
Director Howard looked back to being on set and watching Carrey suffer panic attacks as a result, saying he “would see him lying down on the floor in between setups with a brown paper bag, literally on the floor – he was miserable”.
The intense stress of the physical transformation – which required eight hours alone in the makeup chair – meant Carrey threatened to quit the movie after his first day of filming. “He was ready to give his $20 million back,” Howard said. “I mean, he was sincere.”
The solution came in the unlikely form of “a guy who trained the military on enduring imprisonment and torture,” who was brought into the fold to stop Carrey from quitting the movie and to teach him how to better handle the makeup transformation.
“Richard Marcinko was a gentleman that trained CIA officers and special-ops people how to endure torture,” Carrey said. “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. 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.”
Jim Carrey as the Grinch. CREDIT: Moviestore Collection Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo
He went on to say that he later discovered that the man in question also founded SEAL Team Six. “But what really helped me through the makeup process,” he added, “which they eventually pulled down to about three hours, was the Bee Gees. I listened through the makeup process to the entire Bee Gees catalogue. Their music is so joyful. I’ve never met Barry Gibb, but I want to thank him.”
The film’s producer, Brian Grazer, also revealed to Vulture that the team originally offered Carrey the option of using special effects to turn his eyes green, which he declined in favour of massive contacts that were “like Frisbees in his eyes” and caused him a lot of pain.
“It was something that I asked for that I can’t blame on anyone but myself,” Carrey admitted. “You’ve got to be careful what you ask for. You don’t think about it when you see an actor do a part that is about excruciating pain or whatever. But that actor has to live in that feeling. They don’t just go home and suddenly stop feeling it.”
His admission follows Taylor Momsen performing a duet of ‘Where Are You, Christmas?’ from the beloved gilm with her younger self on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night (December 12).
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