Recently, Jim Carrey was interviewed by ComicBook.com and asked if there was a character from his iconic film career that he would love to reprise. His response was the Grinch, but he emphasized that he would prefer to do so using motion capture technology. Carrey expressed his reluctance to endure the lengthy and “excruciating” makeup process that he experienced during the original film.
“Oh, gosh, you know, if we could figure out the Grinch,” Carrey remarked. “The thing about it is, on the day, I do that with a ton of makeup and can hardly breathe. It was an extremely excruciating process. The children were in my mind all the time. ‘It’s for the kids. It’s for the kids. It’s for the kids.’ And now, with motion capture and things like that, I could be free to do other things. Anything is possible in this world.”
Carrey originally portrayed the title character in Ron Howard’s 2000 Christmas classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” which was based on Dr. Seuss’s beloved 1957 children’s book. Although the film received mixed reviews, it was a box office hit, grossing $346 million worldwide. Carrey’s portrayal of the Grinch became the highest-grossing film of 2000 in the United States and ranked as the sixth-highest grossing film globally that year. The film garnered three Oscar nominations, winning one for makeup and hairstyling. However, the transformation process for Carrey was anything but pleasant. It was described as “excruciating” for the actor and posed significant challenges for special effects makeup artist Kazuhiro Tsuji, who later revealed that he sought therapy after working with Carrey due to the difficulties he faced in the makeup chair.
Tsuji recounted an incident where Carrey would suddenly stand up in the makeup trailer, scrutinizing his reflection and pointing out discrepancies. “This color is different from what you did yesterday,” Carrey would insist, despite Tsuji using the same color. “Fix it.” Tsuji noted that every day was a similar struggle, leading to his exhaustion. Eventually, the film’s head makeup artist, Rick Baker, allowed Tsuji to take a break from the project. However, weeks later, Carrey reached out, asking Tsuji to return. Tsuji mentioned that Carrey managed to keep his temper in check for the remainder of the filming, but his final thought at the end of production was, “if I had a choice, I would not be in this mental state all the time.”
