A lot of actors say that you have to do comedy a little more seriously than drama. Coming from a series of highly successful comedies like “Dumb and Dumber” and “Liar, Liar” to The Truman Show and now The Majestic, do you agree? ^ Gosh, I don’t think so. I think comedy you have to come at with a smile. You have to come at it with some kind of – it’s like the seed of a joygasm. There is something going on behind the person’s eyes. That’s why I love Bill Murray, because there’s just something behind his eyes that tells the audience, ‘I am not serious in any way.’
Is that how you approach comedy? ^ A little bit. I get a lot of my inspiration from animals for some reason. I used to have a cat that was really squirly. He would get this look where his ears would kind of go back and you knew he was going to do something horrible– climb the curtains or something. He would get this squirly look on his face and it hit me. I was looking at it one day and I went, ‘That is the feeling that I want inside when I’m on camera.’ I want the audience to have the feeling that I’m about to climb the curtains. Do something nutty.
Your major dramatic roles in The Truman Show, Man on the Moon and The Majestic all revolve around the media in some way. Was that intentional on your part? ^ No, it just happens. I think the world is becoming more about media, so the arts are becoming more about media.
Speaking of the media, despite all your success on-screen, your personal life hasn’t exactly been ‘happily ever after.’ You have gone through two divorces and almost all of your break-ups since then have been highly publicized by the press. Do you feel like there is a void in your life in the area of personal relationships? Do you agree with the press that your romantic life has suffered because of your career? ^ Not because of my CAREER necessarily. Maybe it is. Maybe I focus a lot on that so that becomes the driving force. I don’t know what the answer to relationship are;. I have no idea. I know that I am basically a very simple guy who values a real relationship, and I am having fun dating.
But success is nothing if you can’t share it with anyone, right? ^ Absolutely and every place on earth and everything on it.
So is there anybody special in your life right now? ^ No, I don’t have a steady. I’m just dating and it’s still okay and cool.
Celebrities who are single always say it’s hard to find someone who loves you for you and not for the fact you are rich and famous. Do you ever worry that a woman goes out with you because of who you are or what you represent? ^ I don’t spend a lot of my life trying to figure out what people’s intentions are. I let them screw up. If I meet somebody and they come at me with a friendly face that is not a friendly face ultimately than that’s their hell. I try to trust people right out of the gate and that’s just how I approach it. Otherwise, you get completely paranoid and end up in a room growing your fingernails.
I mentioned earlier that the press is always quick to report on your dating life, but basically anything and everything you do is broadcast thanks to the Internet and television. Do you like to read what is written about you? ^ Not a lot. Not unless it’s really scathing and horrible.
Now I know you have a birthday coming up soon and it’s kind of a milestone. ^ Oh really? You had to put it THAT way huh?
Have you given any have you thought about it at all? Whenever you reach an age of 30 or 40 or 50 or whatever people tend to, but have you thought about it at all and where you are in life as you reach that age? ^ You know it’s a weird thing. I’m going through a lot of stuff right now. I get freaked out about it. For me though, death has become a real thing with definable features. You go there some moments and some moments you feel like a baby. You feel like a child who’s just been born and you know that’s what life is. It’s never one thing. You know I can never say yes I’m happy, yes I’m sad, yes I’m whatever. I’m always everything. That’s what’s confusing about these kinds of things because, really, what we’re playing at is trying to define a person by this moment where we’re sitting together and talking and you can’t. I’m sure I’m going through all the cliché things that people go through at my age. There is definitely a feeling of ‘is what I’m doing worthwhile? Are people being touched? Is it making any difference at all? Am I serving somebody?’ You don’t want to end up at the end going what I did was all for me and that’s it. That’s a huge concept I’m dealing with. There are a lot of things going on but I feel fantastic. I feel creative and I’m in fairly good shape. I look forward to what now is going to become. I hope I can be brave about aging and dignified about it because so much of this business is trying to hang on to something rather than be who you are. I think Tom Hanks has done that really well. He’s not afraid to take roles that are mature and I’m not going to be either if people allow me to do it. If they enjoy seeing it then I’ll do it. I want to do certain things in certain ways. I want the camera to come in and see the wrinkle and see whatever. I want that to be okay. Because if it isn’t I’ll become a real phony.
Get the rest of the interview in the final of JIM CARREY GETS SERIOUS>>>
