Method acting has something of a controversial reputation among Hollywood elites, and there are plenty of actors who shun the approach. For those who use method acting, however, it appears to be a way for them to get in deep touch with the characters they portray and help them hone their craft.
While staying in character at all times can cause some real tensions on the set , it also produces some of the finest performances audiences have ever seen. Method acting has caused some truly bizarre behavior from big name stars.
Leonardo DiCaprio — famously a method actor — slept in animal carcasses to prepare for his role in The Revenant. Their footage reflected so poorly on Carrey that Universal never used it, but now Smith has combined it with a new interview in which Carrey remembers the experience of playing Kaufman.
The role itself called for excess—Kaufman, more of a performance artist than a comedian, was utterly committed to his elaborate comic schemes such as wrestling women onstage, despite intense vitriol from audiences. When Carrey first shows up on set, his fellow cast members are delighted by his method approach.
Or so Hef thought. That night, the Tony Clifton Hef was parading around was none other than Bob Zmuda, Kaufman's longtime writing partner.
Hef thought he was in on the whole Carrey-as-Clifton joke -- until Carrey showed up out of character. Then the joke was on Hefner, who does not seem pleased and who orders Tony Clifton off the property. The Jim Carrey who got the part of Andy Kaufman is not the Jim Carrey who won a Golden Globe for portraying Andy Kaufman, and the person he is now is far removed from both of those identities.
It's a haunting note to end on, but one that Carrey seems to take as a comforting reality. Skip to main content Entertainment. Carrey says Andy possessed him. Carrey made people call him Andy on set. He wore a paper bag over his head while driving a car, which he crashed. The real Kaufman family embraced Jim. Kaufman's biological daughter, who never met him, tracked down and had a conversation with Carrey in character as Andy.
Carrey got into an offset fight with his onscreen Dad both in character. He spit on Jerry Lawler to incite an actual fight He began drinking and smoking sometimes heavily. He does one of the darkest Jackie Kennedy impressions you'll see. He brought the Hell's Angels to the set.
Carrey pranked Hugh Hefner. From Man on the Moon about the inane exploits of sardonic funnyman Andy Kaufman, to The Majestic about a screenwriter in the Golden Age of Hollywood who rediscovers his patriotism during the Red Scare, Carrey's involvement in dramatic films that are focused on biographies and moments in American history is poignant and provocative.
When permitted, he fully embodies the idiosyncrasies of real living people, and when necessary, the eccentricities of fictional people, but without the tropes and two-dimensional confines of his comedic performances.
Jim Breuer, Sebastian Maniscalco, and a few comedians in the last few decades have approached Carrey's prowess in the arena of physical comedy, but even their most rambunctious performances would be hard to top Carrey at his zany best.
From Ace Ventura's signature strut, to The Mask's samba moves, Carrey imbues his characters with movements that define their personhood. In many cases they become inseparable, which makes him a particular star at doing impersonations and impressions of other people. Comedic films can be incredibly complex, but the sort of intricacy they espouse often comes from the mechanics of their gags.
Sometimes Carrey's comedic roles inform his dramatic roles, and they become profoundly complicated. In films like The Truman Show, Carrey is required to portray a man who has no idea his life is a reality show, and his narrative arc covers both the absurd and the heart-wrenching. In the series Kidding , he plays a children show's host who has an existential breakdown, and must deal with the aftermath of being depressed in a world that expects him to make it laugh.
From skit series like In Living Color where Carrey created memorable characters like Fire Marshall Bill, to films like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective , Bruce Almighty, and The Mask, there are few comedians who have given audiences so many distinct and recognizable creations.