One of the most recognizable names in comedy, Jim Carrey, has flailed, skipped, and flipped his way into millions of hearts around the world through his wide range of physical comedy skills, impressions, total transformations, dramatic film surprises, and undying commitment to entertainment. In a somewhat recent documentary (Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond) released about Carrey and his role in Man on the Moon as Andy Kaufman, he shared a revelation with the film crew that shook him from his sleep in his early career:
“The audience wants to be free from concern.”
From that moment on, Carrey would embody the character who was free from concern, giving the audience what he believed they wanted. Born and raised in Ontario Canada to Percy and Kathleen Carrey, Jim started his impressions and performative nature at a very young age, inspired by greats such as Dick Van Dyke, Jackie Gleeson, Jimmy Stewart, Andy Kaufman, Art Carney, Jerry Lewis, and (as he has stated many times before) his father, Percy Carrey. Despite Jim and Percy’s wacky, outrageous demeanor, life was not easy for the Carrey family. As his mother Kathleen struggled with mental illness, Percy was financially responsible for the family of 6, so when he lost his accountant job, the family was forced to live in a car. Jim (almost 15 years later), driven by his fathers’ failure, wrote himself a check for $10 million for “acting services rendered,” and gave himself three years to fulfill this goal. Three years later on Thanksgiving 1994, Jim received his paycheck for his role in Dumb and Dumber: $10 million. Carrey had achieved the seemingly impossible: He manifested his own chosen destiny. Now, we will attempt the seemingly impossible: Ranking the top 10 Jim Carrey movies of his career.
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