Jim Carrey has had plenty of iconic roles, but there are few that have stood the test of time the same as his biggest festive outing, playing the Grinch. We’d bet you’ve seen How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and for many, it has become a yearly viewing tradition.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas was first released in 2000 and instantly became a hit. With a fun story and an absolutely incredible performance from Carrey, the movie made millions and saw thousands flock to theaters around the holiday season to see it. In fact, it was the highest-grossing film domestically for that year.
Now 24 years later, it seems this film is still one that the actor loves, as when asked what former role he’s interested in reprising by Comicbook.com, Carrey instantly replied with just one: the titular green misanthrope of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
“Oh, gosh, you know, if we could figure out the Grinch. 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.”
If you’ve seen How the Grinch Stole Christmas, then you’re probably not surprised to hear that getting into character was a grueling process for the star. The Grinch is a character covered in green fur and facial prosthetics, so it would have taken hours of sitting in a chair for Carrey to even be prepared to start shooting.
This process may have been a contributor in the 2018 reboot The Grinch being completely animated. For what it’s worth, this reimaging of the story was another gigantic success, proving the power that this franchise still holds.
While it might have been painful, getting Carrey into character without the use of CGI or animation was worth it. The movie was nominated for several Oscars but wound up scoring one for Makeup and Hairstyling mostly due to the look of its main character. Still, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a tough process.
Speaking to Vulture, Kazuhiro Tsuji who worked on Carrey’s look during filming for How the Grinch Stole Christmas shared that the star was not easy to work with.
“In the makeup trailer he just suddenly stands up and looks in the mirror, and pointing on his chin, he goes, ‘This color is different from what you did yesterday. I was using the same color I used yesterday. He says, ‘Fix it.’ And okay, you know, I ‘fixed’ it. Every day was like that.”
Judging by that, the advancements in technology allowing makeup to be more easily applied or avoided entirely using motion capture would be a huge relief on all sides if Carrey were to return to the role.
Sadly, we don’t see Carrey having the chance to play the Grinch again, but given how incredible he was at doing so, we’d love to see it.