In the 1990s, Jim Carrey became one of the biggest stars in the world, thanks to hit
films like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Dumb and Dumber, The Mask, and Liar Liar.
He's an incredibly likeable actor, and also a very loose performer.
He improvises a lot, so when you combine that with his manic energy, it results in lots
of unexpected moments of him cracking up his co-stars … and himself.
Here are some behind-the-scenes clips from Jim Carrey movies: outtakes so good that they
could've been in the movies themselves.
Almighty then!
Bruce Almighty is a high-concept blockbuster, where Carrey stars as a TV reporter who gets
to take a crack at being God.
In this blooper, an agitated Bruce has to cut off a conversation because he's running
late for work.
Generally, actors who have to drive in movies don't actually drive.
Instead, the car is placed on a rig so that the crew can control exactly where it goes.
This outtake reveals that secret, as Carrey fiddles with the controls and pretends to
zoom out of the neighborhood.
Poppin' with the penguins
Mr. Popper's Penguins stars Carrey as a guy who opens up his apartment to dozens of the
tuxedo-colored polar birds.
For many of the shots, the production used real penguins, and they've got genuine comic
chops.
In this outtake, Carrey attempts to establish comic rapport with a prickly penguin, who
reluctantly obliges.
First, the bird completely ignores his attempts at friendliness.
Then, when he attempts the old "it's for you" bit with a phone, the little critter amusingly
snaps its beak as a clever retort.
"I'll introduce you.
Somebody wants to talk."
"Wanna say 'hi' to Pippy?"
"Whoa, yeah!"
Water in the court
In Liar Liar, Carrey plays a sleazy lawyer who is physically unable to say anything but
the truth.
Ironically enough, in this outtake, the joke is based on a lie.
After an exchange with co-star Jennifer Tilly, Carrey pours himself a glass of water from
a pitcher.
He knows that neither the glass nor the pitcher is going to appear on screen … but that
the sound WILL register.
So it's the perfect opportunity for Carrey to make it seem like he's relieving himself
in the courtroom.
"Ahhhhh."
Something About Mary Christmas
In this moment from Dumb and Dumber To, best friends Harry Dunne and Lloyd Christmas are
having one of their little arguments.
In the outtake, Carrey adds some highly theatrical laughing.
His co-star Jeff Daniels doesn't break character, instead managing to improvise this line:
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"
"Let me just laugh some more!"
It's a joke that works on two levels, referencing both the name of Lloyd's unattainable dream
woman from the original Dumb and Dumber, as well as another very successful Farrelly brothers
film.
Hello, Clarice
Carrey departed from his wheelhouse of likeable idiots in the 1996 dark comedy The Cable Guy.
He plays a TV installer who befriends a regular guy and then stalks him and tries to ruin
his life.
One of the movie's most famous scenes takes place at Medieval Times.
Carrey puts a bunch of meat on his face and references Hannibal Lecter from The Silence
of the Lambs.
It was apparently so funny to Carrey and Matthew Broderick that they struggled to film the
scene without cracking up.
"Silence.
OF THE LAMBS!"
"Stop that, that is incredibly disgusting."
"Do I have a lot of grease on my face?"
"Yes!"
Fun with Jim and props
Jim Carrey knows a thing or two about physical comedy, but that doesn't necessarily mean
he's the most physically coordinated actor.
In this outtake from Fun with Dick and Jane, Carrey's suburban dad-turned-criminal is supposed
to celebrate a successful phone call by throwing the phone from one hand to the other.
But he can't quite seem to pull it off, as he drops the phone and sends it flying.
When he actually does manage to catch it, he pauses to savor the moment, but for so
long that the take is unusable.
A series of fortunate riffs
A Series of Unfortunate Events is based on Lemony Snicket's gothic children's novels
about the orphaned Baudelaire children.
With Carrey as villainous master of disguise Count Olaf, there ended up being plenty of
extra footage.
In this clip, he improvises a song about a time machine.
That leads to him imitating a clock gone mad, which then leads to his top-notch dinosaur
impression.
Somehow his co-stars continue to pretend to sleep, even as he runs around and, well, does
this:
"Ahhhhhh!"
What's my name again?
Anchorman 2 did everything the first Anchorman did, only much bigger and set in the '80s
instead of the '70s.
This included revisiting the first film's epic news anchor battle royale.
The original fight featured only local San Diego news teams while the second increased
the stakes with national and international squads.
There were cameos galore, including Carrey and Marion Cotillard as a Canadian duo.
Though Carrey is a native Canuck, his character's exaggerated accent made it hard for him to
spit out his lines.
"What the hell's my name?"
"Scott Riley."
"There's not going to be a fight, without Ron… what's my name?
My name is not Ron!"