Jim Carrey has never hidden how grueling How the Grinch Stole Christmas was to film because of the extreme makeup demands, but a new Vulture oral history lays out just how brutal the process really was — and how close he came to quitting on day one.
“When it came down to actually designing the Grinch to look like the Grinch, they had to put the tip of my nose on the top of the bridge of the Grinch’s nose,” Carrey said. “So, all of the rest of it was covered and I couldn’t breathe through my nose, and they had a real problem trying to get holes in the mask that could allow me to breathe through my nose. Ultimately, I ended up mouth-breathing through the entire movie.”
And the nose wasn’t the only issue.
“The suit was made of unnervingly itchy yak hair that drove me insane all day long,” he explained. “I had ten-inch-long fingers, so I couldn’t scratch myself or touch my face or do anything. I had teeth that I had to find a way to speak around, and I had full contact lenses that covered the entire eyeball, and I could only see a tiny tunnel in front of me.”
Despite all the discomfort, Carrey insisted on keeping certain details realistic — including the Grinch’s green eyes. Producer Brian Grazer recalled, “He wanted to have green eyes. They were like Frisbees in his eyes. He was in so much pain.”
Director Ron Howard said the transformation was so intense that Carrey “started having panic attacks” during the first days of filming. “I would see him lying down on the floor in between setups with a brown paper bag,” Howard shared. “Literally on the floor. He was miserable.”
“He was ready to give his $20 million back! I mean, he was sincere,” Howard added, noting Carrey threatened to quit after his first day — which required eight full hours of makeup.
Carrey ultimately powered through thanks to help from Richard Marcinko, a former military trainer who specialized in teaching soldiers how to endure imprisonment and torture.
“He gave me a litany of things that I could do when I began to spiral. Like punch myself in the leg as hard as I can,” Carrey said. “Have a friend that I trust and punch him in the arm. Eat everything in sight. Changing patterns in the room. If there’s a TV on when you start to spiral, turn it off and turn the radio on. Smoke cigarettes as much as possible. There are pictures of me as the Grinch sitting in a director’s chair with a long cigarette holder. I had to have the holder, because the yak hair would catch on fire if it got too close.”
Even though he hated the physical toll of being the Grinch, Carrey said last year he’d be open to returning for a sequel — but only if he could do it via motion capture.
