- Wrote letters to Tupac Shakur when Tupac was in prison to help him laugh and smile. Tupac said that Carrey was his favorite actor.
- As a child, he used to wear his tap shoes to bed just in case his parents needed cheering up in the middle of the night.
- He has said that Joel, his painfully shy, lovelorn character in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), is closer to what he's like when he's not "on," and that making the film led him to reflect on his past relationships and why they didn't work out.
- Was a straight-A student until he dropped out.
- According to Biography, Jim wrote himself a check for $10 million dollars in 1983, post-dated 10 years, hoping to be able to cash it by then. The episode also featured a clip from a 1999 interview where Jim stated he put the check in his father's pocket after he passed away on September 13, 1994. [October 13, 2010].
- At one point he and his family all worked as janitors and security guards at a factory to make a living.
- At one time, Carrey was slated to star as the lead in Meet the Parents (2000) and even contributed jokes to the screenplay, such as the main character being named "Focker".
- He was originally cast as "Dr. Evil" in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), but he had to drop out of the role due to a scheduling conflict with Liar Liar (1997).
- Nicole Kidman calls him her best male friend.
- Jack Nicholson has called him the "Jack Nicholson of the next generation".
- Went through depression in the 1980s while struggling to make ends meet as a comedian.
- Bought a Harley Davidson motorcycle and got a vanity license plate for it which read "NO TAG" as a joke. This resulted in Jim receiving numerous traffic tickets in the mail that were meant for other people. As it turns out, when filling out a ticket, police officers write "no tag" in the license plate number slot on the ticket when the offending vehicle has no license plate. In some cases, this was interpreted as the actual license plate number, as it was in Jim's case, which caused the tickets to be routed to him.
- Dropped out of high school at 16.
- Was considered for the roles of Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), both of which eventually went to Johnny Depp.
- Performed his first stand-up routine (with disastrous results) in a yellow suit and tails (made by his mother) similar to what he would later wear in The Mask (1994).
- He had never heard of Doctor Who (1963) until being offered the role of the Eighth Doctor in Doctor Who: The Movie (1996), which was the key factor into turning down the role, as he felt he would cause outrage amongst Doctor Who fans if the role wasn't played by a Doctor Who fan.
- Owns his own $25-million plane.
- As of 2001, his total of nine MTV movie awards is the most won by any person.
- At age 10, he sent his resume to Carol Burnett.
- First actor to reach 20 million dollar salary mark (for The Cable Guy (1996)) in 1996. The first actress to do so was Julia Roberts, four years later, who was paid the same amount for her role in Erin Brockovich (2000) in 2000.
- Insisted the band, Cannibal Corpse, play in the movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994).
- To deal with his depression, Carrey took Prozac, eventually deciding to get off medications. He has stated that he no longer takes medications or stimulants of any kind, not even coffee.
- Performed "Rocket Man" on stage with Elton John at one of John's concerts. (1998)
- At one point his family lived out of their car/trailer.
- Is a huge fan of the cartoons Dexter's Laboratory (1996), Johnny Bravo (1997), SpongeBob SquarePants (1999) and Dave the Barbarian (2004).
- Became a grandfather for the 1st time at age 48 when his daughter Jane Carrey gave birth to her son Jackson Riley Santana on February 26, 2010. Child's father is singer Alex Santana.
- Has played the two most well known fictional characters who hated Christmas, The Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge.
- Turned down the offer to induct Jerry Lawler into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2007, for he believed the people in the audience would have come to the ceremony to see him, not the legends being honored that night.
- He appeared at the 20th anniversary special for The Comedy Store wearing nothing but a sock on his penis.
- Shares the same birthday with Andy Kaufman, who he played in Man on the Moon (1999).
- Relationship with Renée Zellweger ended while they were already engaged and had marriage plans. (2000)
- October 2004 - Became a U.S. citizen.
- Became a father for the 1st time at age 25 when his 1st ex-wife Melissa Carrey gave birth to their daughter Jane Carrey on September 6, 1987.
- He auditioned to be a castmember on Saturday Night Live (1975) in its 1980-81 season, but lost out to Charles Rocket (who he'd later star opposite in Dumb and Dumber (1994)). He auditioned again for the 1985-1986 season, but Carrey saw a man on the ledge of the 30 Rock building threatening to kill himself and was afraid that working on SNL would drive him to suicide. Both seasons are considered among the worst in the show's history.
- He has been nominated for 5 Golden Globes, but although more recognised for his comedic performances, the only two Globes he's won were for dramatic performances. (The Truman Show (1998) and Man on the Moon (1999)).
- Auditioned for the role of Farmer Ted in the film Sixteen Candles (1984). Eventually, actor Anthony Michael Hall won the part. Later, was considered for the main role in Edward Scissorhands (1990), in which Hall played the villain.
- Before Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004), he spent years trying to produce and star in a film of Howard Hughes' life as Hughes himself.
- Chosen by "People" magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. (1997)
- Was originally offered the lead role in the movie The Master of Disguise (2002).
- His performance as "Ace Ventura" in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) is ranked #97 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
- As of 2024, Jim Carrey is the only actor (male or female) to date to win a Golden Globe for Best Actor in both the drama and comedy/musical categories without being nominated for an Academy Award. Carrey won the Golden Globe for both Best Actor (Drama) and Best Actor (Comedy/Musical) for The Truman Show (1998) and Man on the Moon (1999) respectively. Additionally, Carrey is the only actor (male or female) to win the Golden Globe for a lead performance in the drama category without being nominated for an Oscar.
- In several films he has played an extraordinary character for whom television plays an vital role. In Batman Forever (1995) he played The Riddler who devises a master plan to hypnotize and absorb knowledge from the population using television. In The Cable Guy (1996) he played a cable TV technician with a lifelong unhealthy obsession with television. In The Truman Show (1998) he played a man who discovers that his entire life was a hugely successful reality TV show. In Man on the Moon (1999) he played the TV comedy star Andy Kaufman who pushed the boundaries of his medium. And in Bruce Almighty (2003) he played a TV reporter who was suddenly granted the powers of God.
- He is of French-Canadian ancestry on his father's side, and has French, Irish, and Scottish ancestry on his mother's side. His family's surname was originally "Carré".
- Along with his girlfriend Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, he was among the guests at Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes's wedding.
- While filming Earth Girls Are Easy (1988), it took approximately two and a half hours for him and co-stars Jeff Goldblum and Damon Wayans to be suited up as the aliens.
- Received U.S. citizenship in October 2004 and maintains a dual citizen of both the United States and his native Canada.
- (6/24/99) During the filming of Me, Myself & Irene (2000), he and the production crew attended a private music show Phish at the guitarist/vocalist house in Careystock, Vermont. There he sang two songs with Phish, "Hey You" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive and "Come Together" by The Beatles.
- He was friends with the late comedic actor Chris Farley, and remains friends with Farley's frequent collaborator David Spade.
- Many of his characters are ordinary men whose lives are changed by supernatural or otherwise unseen forces. As in The Mask (1994) (" (Ipkiss happens to find the mask), The Majestic (2001) (Appleton is unlucky and suffers amnesia), Liar Liar (1997) (His son's birthday wish comes true), Bruce Almighty (2003) (Divine intervention), The Truman Show (1998) (He finds his life is a TV show), and so on.
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