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Jim Carrey is known as one of Hollywood’s funniest men. But behind the scenes, things haven’t always been so positive for the star.
Jim Carrey is one of Hollywood’s best-loved actors.
He first rose to fame in gross-out comedy movies such as Dumb & Dumber and Ace Ventura, where his seemingly elastic face and never-ending supply of energy gained much fan acclaim.
Since then, he’s shown a remarkable range.
Carrey has starred in films across a wide range of genres, including a range of excellent romcoms like Bruce Almighty.
But Carrey doesn’t shy away from more dramatic roles, either.
He gained a lot of critical praise for his role in dystopian reality television satire, The Truman Show. He also played the romantic straight-man lead in artsy classic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Alongside his acting success, Carrey has had to deal with a certain level of fame.
Particularly in the ’90s, Carrey was one of the most recognizable faces in the celebrity world. His hugely successful film roles led to a legion of loyal fans.
At first, Carrey seemed to court the public’s attention.
But in recent years, he’s become a lot more private and less keen on holding his spot in the public eye. In fact, he’s often quite critical of society’s obsession with fame.
Carrey has often been keen to troll the paparazzi.
Here he is in 2008, wearing then-girlfriend Jenny McCarthy’s bathing suit – perhaps as a commentary on how women are treated by the media, or perhaps just to induce a laugh.
But there’s no shortage of snaps of Carrey.
If you’re as famous as he is – and attend high profile celebrity events with such regularity – it makes sense that you’d be pretty used to getting your picture taken.
He’s certainly a recognizable face.
But behind the scenes, it seems we haven’t really known much about Carrey’s life.
Recently, details of several tragic incidents in his past have surfaced.
It seems behind his smile, there’s a whole world of pain.
And as details of his life have surfaced, fans don’t know what to think.
The elements of his tragic life have many feeling emotional – particularly when the star is so beloved!
So let’s start, shall we?
The tragedies of Carrey’s life started very young – when he was a kid, in fact.
When Carrey was a kid, he had a particular fear.
He was constantly afraid of his parents dying.
“I remember locking myself in the bathroom and crying because I thought they were going to die.”
“They banged on the door, telling me to come out. I don’t know if I got over that fear at that time; it was just kind of with me,” he explained.
Carrey was also a very lonely kid.
“I spent most of my time in my room staring at a mirror,” he confessed.
“I never knew I was supposed to socialize.”
“I went from straight-A student to not wanting to know anybody’s name, and not wanting to make a friend.”
Carrey also faced a very real peril in his childhood.
A bout of homeless, after his father lost his job.
“A lot of people don’t know this but when I was about 14 or 15, my father lost his job and I actually became homeless for quite some time.”
“But of course, I grew up in Canada and I thought we’d gone camping,” he’s joked on stage.
We’ve long known Carrey as a successful comedian.
But his earliest days on the job were anything but easy.
In fact, during his first time on stage, things went pretty badly.
“I finally got offstage to huge applause just because I mentioned I was going to leave the stage.”
“Then I crawled through the audience on my hands and knees, popped up behind the piano and started banging on the keys, singing, ‘I hate you all, you gave me cancer.’”
“I got in the car and I cried all the way home,” he said, “Because I don’t want to make people unhappy.”
Carrey’s struggles with his mental health have continued for much of his life.
He’s actually been quite vocal about his ongoing struggles with depression.
“It all comes down to the same thing … You are either in a loving place, or you are in an unloving place.”
“If you are with me right now, you cannot be unhappy. It’s not possible, just try.”
A public breakup didn’t help his fragile mental state.
In 2010, Carrey and Jenny McCarthy split, and he turned to creative pursuits to try to get through the tough times.
In fact, Carrey’s relationship past has been plagued with issues.
McCarthy has called him “a hard guy to date.”
“Jim can run hot and he can run cold.”
“He is someone who desperately needs to be with someone, then just as desperately needs to be alone. But at the same time, he can be a very loving, very compassionate guy.”
Carrey’s intense personality has also led to professional problems.
During the filming of Man on the Moon, he fully immersed himself in the role of Andy Kauffman.
His method acting led him to lose himself.
He found himself asking questions like, “What do I believe? What are my politics? What do I like and dislike?”
After filming was over, Carrey felt he’d lost himself.
“If I can put Jim Carrey aside for 4 months, who is Jim Carrey?” he asked. “Who the hell is that?”
But there’s one big controversy that has dominated Carrey’s life.
Back in 2015, his ex-girlfriend Cathriona White tragically took her own life.
But the tragedy didn’t end there.
The following year, Carrey was sued by her ex-husband for wrongful death.
Carrey fought back.
He launched a lawsuit claiming the family was trying to extort him.
The case was dismissed on both sides in 2018.
But we can’t imagine this was an easy thing for Carrey to go through!