Jim Carrey’s Panic Attacks While Filming ‘The Grinch’ Forced Director to Make This Shocking Move to Keep Project Going
Jim Carrey, 62, had a rough time during the making of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” according to the film’s director, Ron Howard.
The comedian starred as the title character The Grinch, and his role required him to sit through a makeup application process for over two hours.
In addition to the prosthetics, the “In Living Color” alum had to wear custom-made contact lenses and a yak-haired spandex suit for his portrayal of the Whoville tormenter.
In a resurfaced clip from Howard’s 2023 interview with “In Depth with Graham Bensinger,” he got candid about Carrey’s character “The Grinch.”
“I could tell that the costume, and especially the contact lenses, were just tormenting Jim. He was having panic attacks to the point where he would be breathing into a paper bag just trying to hang on,” Howard recalled.
The Academy Award-winning filmmaker added Carrey felt “claustrophobic” but he wanted to do the character.
“I tried to do things just to cheer him up. Like one day, I put on The Grinch suit so that I could suffer along with him and I could let him know, yeah, I could see now how miserable it really was.”
Howard admitted wearing The Grinch costume was “terrible” and “itchy” but Carrey wanted to portray the character. In another attempt to put Carrey at ease, he contacted actor Don Knotts, who played Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom “The Andy Griffith Show.”
“I said would you come over and hang out on the set one day, Jim Carrey idolizes you and he’s going through hell on this project,” Howard explained, noting that Carrey was “elated” when Knotts came to set.
He also claimed producer Brian Grazer hired a consultant who trained military officials and intelligence agents on “how to deal with torture.”
“This guy worked with Jim to help him develop survival techniques and Jim made it through,” the former “Happy Days” cast member explained to Bensinger.
Carey has been open about the difficulty of playing The Grinch. Eventually, the Canadian-American actor was able to overcome the discomfort of portraying the live-action Christmas cynic.
“I learned about pain deferred, being able to transcend it. It’s amazing what we can get used to. We humans can live on Mars,” he stated during a press conference in 2000, per The Washington Times.
Apparently, Carrey was not the only person on set who went through mental and emotional stress over his transformation into The Grinch.
Makeup artist Kazuhiro Tsuji had to take a hiatus from the production because of Carrey’s alleged demanding behavior. Tsuji checked into therapy after finishing the movie because of how he was treated by the lead actor.
“[Carrey] was really mean to everybody and at the beginning of the production they couldn’t finish,” Tsuji said in 2018. “After two weeks we only could finish three days’ worth of shooting schedule, because suddenly he would just disappear and when he came back, everything was ripped apart. We couldn’t shoot anything.”
Carey reportedly made $20 million for his role in Howard’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” which premiered in theaters on Nov. 17, 2000.
The holiday comedy based on Dr. Seuss’ 1957 children’s book of the same name grossed $260 million at the domestic box office and $345 million globally.
Instagram users weighed in on Carey’s apparent anguish while filming. For instance, someone commented, “Oh no, contact lenses and an itchy costume for $20 million. Poor baby.”
In response, a fan replied, “Huge amount of pressure on someone to carry a film like that never mind the costume and contact lenses.”
One supporter of the holiday season flick showed appreciation for what Carey had to go through by stating, “The film is epic! Terrible for Jim, but they created a masterpiece.”
Similarly, a commenter wrote, “My favorite Christmas movie. Absolutely genius.”
In addition to “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Howard directed other movies such as “Parenthood,” “Apollo 13,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “The Da Vinci Code,” and “Hillbilly Elegy.”
The 70-year-old Howard launched his Hollywood career as a child actor on “The Andy Griffith Show” sitcom from 1960 to 1968. He later played Richie Cunningham on the “Happy Days” show for seven seasons.
Carey broke out in the United States with his character work on the 1990s-era sketchy comedy television series “In Living Color.” After making the move to the silver screen, he secured leading roles in numerous hit movies.
Between 1994 and 1998, Carey starred in “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “The Mask,” “Dumb and Dumber,” “Batman Forever,” “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls,” “The Cable Guy,” Liar Liar,” and “The Truman Show.”
