Jim Carrey is not my favorite actor. That'd be Paul Newman. He's also not the greatest actor. That would be Cate Blanchett. But, you know what? When it comes down to the actor who I think is the most important in my life, I'm pretty sure it would have to be Carrey.
Somebody stop me if you've heard this one before, but Carrey was kind of a big deal for us '90s kids. His film career spans all the way back to 1983 with The Sex and Violence Family Hour, but his heyday was definitely in the '90s (especially 1994) with movies like The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber. There are a number of reasons why he's so important to me, and here are five of them.
Jim Carrey Made The Leap From My Small Screen To The Big Screen Right Before My Eyes
Let me tell you something! Jim Carrey is hilarious. Back when I was growing up with stuff like The Simpsons, I always used to mentally separate my "White shows" from my "Black shows."
I don't really know why I did this, but it might have been because networks like UPN, the WB, and Fox had whole time slots dedicated to Black audiences. I know shows like Martin, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and The Steve Harvey Show were for everybody, but I kind of felt a certain personal connection with these shows since I thought they were directed more toward my demographic, whereas shows like Frasier, Roseanne, and Mad About You (all of which I also watched) were more focused on white audiences.
Anyway, one show that I always mentally put in my "Black shows" category was In Living Color. I mean, how could I not? It was created by Keenen Ivory Wayans, and the hit sketch comedy show featured a predominantly Black cast. But then, there was Carrey, who totally threw me for a loop. Funny story, but when I first heard Eminem on the radio, I thought, this Black dude sounds really weird, since I hadn’t seen him yet and he was on one of my “Black” stations. Well, I had a similar reaction to Jim Carrey when I first saw him on In Living Color, because I thought, what’s this white guy doing here?
The answer was clear as soon as he opened his mouth and moved, because there really was nobody else like him on television at the time. His characters were legendary. Fire Marshall Bill, Vera De Milo, Reginald Denny, the Karate Instructor. All of them were probably my favorite part about In Living Color (besides Homie the Clown and the Fly Girls, with a pre-fame Jennifer Lopez).
So, when he made the leap from my small screen to the big screen, it was a huge deal for me. I wasn’t really into SNL back in those days, so I didn’t immediately connect movies like Wayne’s World or The Blues Brothers with sketches on TV. Besides, Carrey was different in that he wasn’t taking Fire Marshall Bill or Vera De Milo to the big screen. He was in all new projects, which, unbelievably, were even WACKIER than his characters on In Living Color, which I’ll get into next.
For A Time, Jim Carrey Was Inescapable, And I Loved It
A lot of my friends at school didn’t watch In Living Color. You see, I went to a mostly white elementary and middle school, where I was one of only two Black students in the entire building. So, while I could talk to my friends about shows like Full House with John Stamos, or Blossom with Mayim Bialik, I really couldn’t talk to anybody about In Living Color with Jamie Foxx and Tommy Davidson, because my friends simply had no idea who they were.
But then, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective came out, and that changed everything. Soon, all of my friends were talking about Jim Carrey like he was this brand new comedian, when all the while I kept thinking, "He’s not new. He’s Fire Marshall Bill!" In a lot of ways, however, he kind of was brand new, because while he definitely stood out on the sketch show (and not just because he was “the white guy”), he REALLY stood out in his movies.
As I mentioned earlier, he was like nobody else with his wild mannerisms and loud performances on TV, and Ace Ventura was like his characters there TIMES TEN. This was a dude who literally talked out of his butt, which I had never seen before (or since, really) from a movie star.
Then The Mask came out (same year), and it was over. Ace Ventura was like a cartoon character, but this literally was a cartoon character, with all of the CGI special effects of his eyeballs popping out, and his tongue crinkling. Close out 1994 with Dumb and Dumber (With Batman Forever the very next year!) and Carrey was seriously inescapable for a very impressionable time in my life. I couldn’t have been happier.
In A Lot Of Ways, Jim Carrey Was Like A Live-Action Cartoon Character
As stated, Carrey was pretty much a cartoon in Ace Ventura and The Mask, and this was a huge deal for me. In 1994 I was 11, and at that point in my life, I thought it was “pretty lame” to see cartoons in the theaters. Cartoons were for home. I was, of course, full of it, since I definitely saw every movie from the Disney renaissance in theaters (and secretly loved them), but when it came to other animated movies, I said, “No, thank you” whenever my dad asked me if I wanted to see them.
I kind of did still want to see them, though, even if I didn’t want to admit it to myself. That’s where Carrey comes in. Because of him, I was still getting my big screen cartoon fix, without actually seeing cartoons at the movies.
Because, seriously, he was absolutely bonkers. In The Mask, he was literally bouncing off the walls, and in Batman Forever, his Riddler was as cartoony as you could get. Sure, The Cable Guy was a STARK contrast from his other roles with its subtle darkness (which I hated then, but LOVE today), but Liar Liar was another example of a semi-cartoon character wearing a lawyer’s suit (he even fit in a Fire Marshall Bill cameo).
In a lot of ways, Jim Carrey helped me weather the stormy transition of both growing up, but also still being a kid inside, and I can’t help but thank him for that.
But He Also Had Range, Which Showed Me What True Acting Could Be
I already discussed The Cable Guy, which was unsettling to me then, but I think it was an important movie, because it helped show the darker side of things to me in my teenage years. This is meaningful, because in a lot of ways, I grew up through Carrey’s movies. In 1996, when the film came out, I had a pivotal year, because I started getting into horror franchises like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Now, I’m pretty sure I got into horror because of The Cable Guy.
No lie! That movie really disturbed me, and I think it was my gateway into other disturbing movies, and it’s all because Carrey acted so differently there. Yes, it was still a bit silly (him singing Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love” had serious Fire Marshall Bill vibes), but it was also really dark underneath the surface.
This touch of darkness would follow him into later films like The Truman Show, The Majestic, and especially the Andy Kaufman biopic, Man on the Moon. But, it was 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind that really allowed me to understand what acting even truly was.
Before that, I never really associated “actors” with “acting.” I just watched flicks and enjoyed them as the entire package. After Spotless Mind, I honed in on acting because Carrey showed me what range is, since he wasn’t being a goofball.
Sure, he wasn’t being a goofball in The Majestic, either, but I skipped that one; it didn’t look like a “Jim Carrey movie.” Spotless Mind was the one that made me seriously consider every aspect of a film, from actors to cinematography and even the score, and I owe it all to Carrey, who showed me what true acting is.
I Still Associate Him With My Childhood
For a time, I gave up on Carrey. It started with Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (which I found disappointing after Spotless Mind), and basically continued for years after that. Carrey was dead to me.
However, Sonic the Hedgehog (the best video game movie ever), came out, and that changed everything.
Really, it was the perfect combination. I grew up with Sonic, and I grew up with Jim Carrey. I honestly don’t think I would like the movie as much as I do if not for him, since I associate him with my childhood. Like CinemaBlend's own Mack Rawden, I had a blast watching Jim Carrey be a weirdo in Sonic. It reminded me of all the times he was a complete weirdo in Ace Ventura and Batman Forever.
I think I will always love Carrey’s performance as Dr. Robotnik. Whenever I re-watch Sonic, it reminds me of my childhood, and I don’t think any other actor can really do that for me like he can. I may age, but Jim Carrey’s performance in Sonic the Hedgehog will keep me eternally young in my heart.
Is Jim Carrey an important part of your life, too? For more news on the star, be sure to swing by here often.
