Birth nameJames Eugene Carrey Birth information17 January 1962, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada BioThe youngest of four children born to Percy (an accountant and aspiring jazz saxophonist) and Kathleen, Jim Carrey was an incurable extrovert from day one. As a child he performed constantly, for anyone who would watch, and even mailed his résumé to "The Carol Burnett Show" (1967) at age 10. In junior high he was granted a few precious minutes at the end of each school day to do stand-up routines for his classmates (provided, of course, that he kept a lid on it the rest of the day). Carrey's early adolescence took a turn for the tragic, however, when the family was forced to relocate from their cozy town of Newmarket to Scarborough (a Toronto suburb). They all took security and janitorial jobs in the Titan Wheels factory, Jim working 8-hour shifts after school let out (not surprisingly, his grades and morale both suffered). When they finally deserted the factory, the family lived out of a Volkswagen camper van until they could return to Toronto. Back on firmer ground, Carrey decided to strike out into the comedy club scene. He made his (reportedly awful) professional stand-up debut at Yuk-Yuk's, one of the many local clubs that would serve as his training ground in the years to come. He dropped out of high school, worked on his celebrity impersonations (among them Michael Landon and James Stewart), and in 1979 worked up the nerve to move to Los Angeles. He finessed his way into a regular gig at The Comedy Store, where he impressed Rodney Dangerfield so much that the veteran comic signed him as an opening act for an entire season. During this period Carrey met and married waitress Melissa Womer, with whom he had a daughter (Jane). The couple would later go through a very messy divorce, freeing Carrey up for a brief second marriage to actress Lauren Holly. Wary of falling into the lounge act lifestyle, Carrey began to look around for other performance outlets. He landed a part as a novice cartoonist in the short-lived sitcom "The Duck Factory" (1984); while the show fell flat, the experience gave Carrey the confidence to pursue acting more vigorously. He scored the male lead in the ill-received Lauren Hutton vehicle Once Bitten (1985), and a supporting role in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), before making a modest splash with his appearance as the alien Wiploc in Earth Girls Are Easy (1988). Impressed with Carrey's lunacy, fellow extraterrestrial Damon Wayans made a call to his brother, Keenen Ivory Wayans, who was in the process of putting together the sketch comedy show "In Living Color" (1990). Carrey joined the cast and quickly made a name for himself with outrageous acts (one of his most popular characters, psychotic Fire Marshall Bill, was attacked by watchdog groups for dispensing ill- advised safety tips). Carrey's transformation from TV goofball to marquee headliner happened within the course of a single year. He opened 1994 with a starring turn in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), a film that cashed in on his extremely physical brand of humor (the character's trademark was talking out his derrière). Next up was the manic superhero movie The Mask (1994), which had audiences wondering just how far Carrey's features could stretch. Finally, in December, he hit theaters as a loveable dolt in the Farrelly brothers' Dumb & Dumber (1994) (his first multi-million dollar payday). Now a box-office staple, Carrey brought his manic antics onto the set of Batman Forever (1995), replacing Robin Williams as The Riddler. He also filmed the follow-up to his breakthrough, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995), and inked a deal with Sony to star in The Cable Guy (1996) (replacing Chris Farley) for a cool $20 million--at the time, that was the biggest up-front sum that had been offered to any comic actor. The movie turned out to be a disappointment, both critically and financially, but Carrey bounced back the next year with the energetic hit Liar Liar (1997). Worried that his comic shtick would soon wear thin, Carrey decided to change course. In 1998, he traded in the megabucks and silly grins to star in Peter Weir's The Truman Show (1998). Playing a naive salesman who discovers that his entire life is the subject of a TV show, Carrey demonstrated an uncharacteristic sincerity that took moviegoers by surprise. He won a Golden Globe for the performance, and fans anticipated an Oscar nomination as well--when it didn't materialize, Carrey lashed out at Academy members for their narrow-minded selection process. Perhaps inspired by the snub, Carrey threw himself into his next role with abandon. After edging out a handful of other hopefuls (including Edward Norton) to play eccentric funnyman Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon (1999), Carrey disappeared into the role, living as Kaufman -- and his blustery alter-ego Tony Clifton -- for months (Carrey even owned Kaufman's bongo drums, which he'd used during his audition for director Milos Forman). His sometimes uncanny impersonation was rewarded with another Golden Globe, but once again the Academy kept quiet. An indignant Carrey next reprised his bankable mania for the Farrelly brothers in Me, Myself & Irene (2000), playing a state trooper whose Jekyll and Hyde personalities both fall in love with the same woman (Renée Zellweger). Carrey's real-life persona wound up falling for her too--a few months after the film wrapped, the pair announced they were officially a couple. By then, Carrey had already slipped into a furry green suit to play the stingy antihero of Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). He plans to take a break from the limelight after the holiday flick (as he puts it, "I'm looking forward to getting out of America's face"). Is there another Carrey reinvention in the works? If so, he's not talking.

Just as Stephen Chow's involvement in "Green Hornet" has officially come to an end, word comes in that two other actors are circling the project.
Along with confirming an earlier report that actress Cameron Diaz is eyeing a role in the Michel Gondry-directed "The Green Hornet," Variety adds that "Kick-Ass" actor Nicolas Cage is in early negotiations to join the cast of the Seth Rogen movie as well.
If the casting pans out, Cage will play a gangster villain opposite Rogen's masked crime fighter. The report also notes that Diaz's character is a reporter and love interest for the titular hero.
It goes without saying that Cage is an unabashed comic book enthusiast, going so far as to name his son Kal-El after Superman. Even his stage last name "Cage" is a nod to Luke Cage.
The actor has brought his love for comics to the big screen
Josh Wigler

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Variety reports Nicholas Cage and Cameron Diaz are in talks to join Columbia Pictures' The Green Hornet. Diaz would play a reporter as well as the titular hero’s love interest, while Cage would be cast as a villainous gangster.
Interestingly, neither is a stranger to action films about crime-fighters: Diaz got her breakthrough role opposite Jim Carrey in The Mask, which was based on the Dark Horse comic book. Cage, meanwhile, was nearly cast as the Green Goblin in Spider-Man, would have played Clark Kent/Superman in an aborted Tim Burton production, and recently starred in Ghost Rider.
The pair would hopefully make up the star power lost when Stephen Chow, who was going to play crime-fighting partner Kato, dropped out of The Green Hornet.
So Chow’s out, Cage and Diaz are in. What do you think of Michel Gondry’s summer 2010 film now?

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This might be one of the strangest videos you'll ever see on Cinematical. Over my several short years of movie coverage, I've witnessed some strange things: I actually saw Crispin Glover's "What in the hell is this" film experience What Is It?, watched Kevin Smith double over in pain from a leg cramp during an interview, and kicked Jim Carrey in the foot.
However, nothing beats Michel Gondry free-form rapping to the sounds of his son Paul beatboxing. Oh, and he's rapping about the Green Hornet's car, Black Beauty, which Sony had just unveiled after Preview Night at Comic-Con. Truly bizarre. Plus he gives us a short preview of the movie's opening scene ... and maybe the theme song?
Head after the jump to watch the video, and you'll probably understand a little bit better why this guy was so qualified to direct Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Filed under: Fandom,
Kevin Kelly

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