JIM CARREY (Peter Appleton/Luke Trimble)
A lot of actors say that you have to do comedy a little more seriously than drama. Do you agree?
Gosh, I don't think so. I think comedy you have to come at with a smile. You have to come at it with some kind of - it's like the seed of a joygasm. There is something going on behind the person's eyes. That's why I love Bill Murray, because there's just something behind his eyes that tells the audience, "I am not serious in any way."
Is that how you approach comedy?
A little bit. I approach it - I get a lot of my inspiration from animals for some reason. I used to have a cat that was really squirrelly. He would get this look where his ears would kind of go back and you knew he was going to do something horrible, climb the curtains or something. He would get this squirrelly look on his face and it hit me. I was looking at it one day and I went, “That is the feeling that I want inside when I'm on camera.” I want the audience to have the feeling that I'm about to climb the curtains. Do something nutty.
The good news is that you got a role that is the Jimmy Stewart of our time. The bad news is that you've got to deliver. Did you feel the pressure?
I don't work on that level. I don't try to compare myself to other people. Jimmy Stewart is an unreachable star to me. He was his thing and no one can ever be that again. I'm lucky to be in the same town and working in the same business that he was. I don't try to concentrate on that. I just try to make it as real and as interesting as possible when I'm doing it. Then when they say cut, I sit around and beg for compliments.
What do you think about the resonance this film will have with audiences?
I think it's a breath of fresh air at this point. It's a strange thing because the last time I sat and watched it with an audience I worried about the pacing of it. It is a quiet film at times. But then there was this feeling that sits with you after the experience and it is kind of a relief. You go, "Oh thank you for not bashing my brains in for two hours. Thank you for showing me humanity in a simpler way." It's simple and yet the writing is very complex. It's a beautifully written piece. I don't know if I answered your question. The climate now, I think it's cathartic for people. It's weird the way it's working out. I think it would have been anyway but especially now because people are looking for what makes a hero. How can they be heroes? This is about the effect we have on each other and about respect for sacrifice. We need a lot more of that. Before September 11th, we had become a society that gobbles up anything in its path and is still waiting for what else it can have. I think people have laid back since that and thought, "My life is pretty good. I'm pretty happy. I got all my people, all my friends and family, and I'd better appreciate it."
Were you conscious of making a drama without your usual comedy performance?
Well, there were times when my instincts went in the wrong directions for the piece and Frank would steer my back, which was great. To have a good director, somebody who's going to go, "That's good and it's real, but it's not this movie, that's not the tone," that's what they're there for, as guidance. So, there were times when the old chops come in handy but for the most part in this movie it was about going - I sat down with Peter Weir before we started to film. I had dinner with Peter Weir and he said, "Jim, if you do anything in this movie, be who you are sitting here right now and let the camera come in and don't try to make anything happen. Just be who you are and let the audience decide what to think of it." There are times when you could do all the manipulation you want in your head but really all the audience needs is a blank slate to throw whatever they believe in there. It's a great process.
What if people don't respond to it?
Well, that would be a negative result that hasn't happened so I can't go there. I can't live there. I live in a place of just go forward and do your best work and I believe in my soul and that I'm a worthwhile person, that there is something interesting to me to sit with for two hours. So, that's my faith. I have to have my faith. You don't consider when you're dealing with faith you don't consider oh my God, it might fall on its face, because that fall on its face is gonna lead, if that does happen, hopefully not, but if it does happen, it will lead to greater things. If you're not embittered by it, you will become even greater because of it and you'll become even more interesting, more creative. When the camera looks in your eyes, it'll see that pain and that disappointment and also that you got over it. My biggest thing in life is I want to be an old guy who you look in his eye and you know he's like an old trout that's been caught 100 billion times and thrown back over because he's just too big and they feel sorry for doing it, but he still loves jumping out of the water and swimming in the lake and loves life. That's it. When you see an old person who you know has been beaten down and they still love life and love people, that's it. That has nothing to do with movies.
You are turning forty and this is probably one of the best rolls you've had. How does it feel?
Just long lunches with the reaper. To me there is a lot of stuff going on inside me right now. I'm sure I'm going through all the cliché things that people go through at my age. There is definitely a feeling of is what I'm doing worthwhile? Are people being touched? Is it making any difference at all? Am I serving somebody? You don't want to end up at the end knowing what I did was all for me and that's it. That's a huge concept I'm dealing with. There are a lot of things going on but I feel fantastic. I feel creative and I'm in fairly good shape. I look forward to what now is going to come. I hope I can be brave about aging and dignified about it because so much of this business is trying to hang on to something rather than be who you are. I think Tom Hanks has done that really well. He's not afraid to take roles that are mature and I'm not going to be either if people allow me to do it. If they enjoy seeing it, then I'll do it. I want to do certain things in certain ways. I want the camera to come in and see the wrinkle and see whatever. I want that to be okay because if it isn't, I'll become a real phony.
Great comedic actors, like Bill Murray, Steve Martin and Robin Williams all make their mark. What are you trying to tell us?
I don't know. It's from one film to the next. I never know why I'm doing it until a few weeks in. I pick it because something tells me I should do it. Then generally a few weeks down the line, I go, oh, that's why I'm doing this. Oh, interesting. I always look at the project, and what the project needs and what that story needs. "Ace Ventura" was a good acting choice because that's what that project needed. If you had gone at that in a naturalistic way, people would have gone, "Give me a break, it's a pet detective." The reason they came was because they saw right from the poster that I didn't give a damn and that it wasn't important. It was a time to come in and be carefree. I always look at the individual project and what it needs to be and what it needs and transform myself into that and learn what I have to learn. That's the great thing about it. You are always something different.
What are your upcoming projects? Is there one with Nicole Kidman?
I believe in March we are going to start filming that - "Dog Years" with Nicole Kidman and it's really a sweet project. Garry Ross is directing and writing. He did "Pleasantville," which I loved. I thought it really had a good soul. It's a dangerous territory in the romantic comedy thing. You are taking some huge risks there.
What about that Howard Hughes movie?
Oh, the Howard Hughes - well, Howard Hughes is somebody I'm interested in. We're not very far along on that so I can't really speak about it very much because it's a jinx.
Why Howard Hughes?
Because in certain ways I probably am him. I identify with certain things. I want to find out what made him go where he went. I want to find out what his hole was. What his chasm was that needed to be filled that never could be. It's "Citizen Kane" to me, with characters. It's what are they missing, what are they trying to fill up with their behavior? It's Rosebud. Everybody is trying to find Rosebud, the thing they are missing but it's in the fire. You have to let it go. It's amazing. The people who don't let that go and realize they are never going to get that, don't go on, they don't grow up.
Have you let your Rosebud go?
Probably not. For me, it's probably being seen. A lot of magic and a lot of sleight of hand has been created because I felt I had to. I felt that that would convince everyone I was magical. That has to come from a place of need of some kind. It's need or addiction, one of the two.
Do you have any moments that you wish you could forget?
Oh, I'm sure but I can't tell you. That's dark stuff.
Would you do another wacky comedy?
Sure. I think half of the great stories ever told are comedies, so I can't cut myself off from a part of myself. That's a part of me and always will be. When I walked into the Entertainment Tonight interview, generally they film me walking in because crazy things happen or whatever. They asked ahead of time this time, “Should we film him walking in?” I said, “Well, you can if you want but it's going to make me probably bounce off the walls because I feel on the spot, and generally what I do when I'm on the spot is bounce off the walls. That's just how I deal.”
Would it be okay if that wacky comedy were "Ace Ventura 3?"
I can't go back and do stuff I've done. The frickin' world could end tomorrow. I don't want to be putting the old hair back on.
Are you conscious of the Oscar buzz?
I think it's great that people keep focusing on that. It says something about their belief in me. And it seems to be a lot of people think I belong there so that's a pretty wonderful thing. Whether I get that or not is not up to me. I will accept any gifts that God has planned for me. That's where I stand on that and I think it'll be wonderful.
Do you care about the Oscar?
I care about my work. If that says in some way that my work pleased my peers, that's a great thing.
