Jim Carrey

No.Born on January 17, 1962 in Ontario (Canada), James Eugene Carrey was the youngest of the four children of a jazz saxophonist. The future comedian spent a tragic childhood due to his family’s serious financial problems, his mother’s long illness and his grandfather’s alcoholism. But from very early on he learned to escape through his ability to make people laugh. He soon had to work eight hours in a factory, work that he combined with school, where his long-suffering teachers had to make pacts with him. If he let them give the class without joking comments, in exchange they would give him a few minutes to perform in front of his classmates. Even so, he did not finish his studies, because family problems and his desire to succeed led him to Toronto, to perform in a famous venue specializing in comedian performances.Rodney Dangerfield , very popular in the United States, hired him for the Los Angeles night club circuit.

His performances drew the attention of talent scouts, which led to film contracts, with small roles in Coppola’s Peggy Sue Got Married or Clint Eastwood ‘s The Pink Cadillac and The Blacklist . Thanks to the In Living Color series , he became a popular face on the small screen, which gave him the opportunity to present his own show, Jim Carrey’s Unnatural Act , a milestone on American television. He debuted as a leading man in the cinema in Ace Ventura, a different detective , which made him very popular throughout the world. From there, he stayed on top with four consecutive hits, La máscara ,Dumb and Dumber , Batman Forever and Ace Ventura: Operation Africa , where he gave free rein to his histrionic style, sometimes crossing the limits of rudeness. “Of course there are limits in humor, but I am sure that I have jumped them all without a passport”, he joked on the subject.

Next, he starred in one of the most notorious flops in Hollywood in recent years, Un luco a domicilio ,

title for which he received the exorbitant amount of 20 million dollars, which he himself describes as “an obscene amount of money.” Although this comedy is neither better nor worse than the aforementioned, its stalwarts explain the bump because it gave part of the role to Ben Stiller , and because Carrey was more content than usual, less generous in grimaces than on other occasions. For the non-hardcore it is impossible to grasp the difference. To remove the thorn, he again spent three towns in Compulsive Liar , which returned him to the top of the box office.

As it was, Carrey was adored by wacky comedy stalwarts and most of the general public, but reviled by critics. So he tried to win them over, accepting the risk of starring in a movie with humorous outbursts, but dramatic background, The Truman Show , a denunciation of television morbidity. Now yes, more content, Carrey played the unsuspecting Truman Burbank, who appeared without knowing it 24 hours a day on television, in the same television program where he was born. “When the producer told me that Carrey was interested in the part, I thought it was an amazing idea,” recalls Peter Weir ., director of the tape. For his part, Carrey declared that he felt identified with the character: “I was discovering myself as I read the script, especially since the character reaches a point where he has to distinguish between his own goals, and those that have been given to him.” set the others”.

Although he won the Golden Globe for best actor, and there was talk of an Oscar nomination, the Academy ignored him. Perhaps for this reason, after a small intervention in The Unforgettable Simon Birch , he tried again in Man on the Moon , where he played a real character, the eccentric comedian Andy Kaufman, who died prematurely from cancer. He got the same result: another Golden Globe and no Oscar nominations.

Perhaps not to lose his usual audience, Carrey returned to wild humor in Me, Myself and Irene , by the Farrelly brothers, although he also starred in a heavenly comedy, with a more elaborate plot, Like God , his last work. In The Grinch , she played a child character straight out of the pen of Doctor Seuss. In addition, he did a magnificent job in The Majestic , romantic drama from the director of The Shawshank Redemption , where he nailed the role of a Hollywood screenwriter who lost his memory. He has taken a liking to changing gender. “I like to feel like a ball, bouncing from one side to the other,” he explains. Carrey have a pending premiere Forget about me!, where his character tries to save his relationship with Kate Winslet , undergoing a brainwashing that erases bad memories. And currently the actor is shooting Lemony Snicket ‘s A Series of Unfortunate Events , a new project by Brad Silberling ( The Commitment ), where Meryl Streep and Jude Law take part . In the future he will star in a remake, scripted by Ethan Coen , of Steal Without Looking Who , a 1977 comedy with George Segal and Jane Fonda . And two other films have been announced, still in the pipeline: The Six MillionDollar Man , based on a 70’s series, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty , which Danny Kaye once played , and which could be directed by Steven Spielberg .