Jim Carrey reveals everything that happened while preparing for ‘The Grinch’: panic attacks, a torture specialist...

It has been 25 years since the premiere of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Jim Carrey still has plenty of stories about the physical and emotional toll of playing the iconic character created by Dr. Seuss.

Although the actor was promised a $20 million salary, he was ready to walk away and even pay it back. Carrey seriously considered leaving the film to escape the extreme demands of becoming the Grinch, a role that today would likely rely far more on computer-generated effects than on hours of heavy makeup.

In a recent interview with Vulture, Carrey spoke about the ordeal, describing “panic attacks” caused by the lengthy characterisation process. At one point, the production even hired a man “who trained the military to withstand torture” to help him cope with the strain.

The original idea was simply to paint Carrey green, but both he and special effects makeup artist Rick Baker wanted the Grinch to closely resemble the character from the Dr. Seuss book. That decision led to major problems.

“When it came time to design the Grinch to look like the Grinch, they had to put the tip of my nose over the bridge of the Grinch’s nose. So the rest was covered and I couldn’t breathe through my nose, and they had a real problem trying to make holes in the mask that would allow me to breathe through my nose. In the end, I ended up breathing through my mouth for the entire movie,” Carrey said.

“The suit was made of yak hair that was incredibly itchy and drove me crazy all day. I had twenty-five-centimetre fingers, so I couldn’t scratch, touch my face, or do anything… I wore contact lenses that covered my entire eyeball, and I could only see a small tunnel in front of me,” he added.

After the first day in makeup, Carrey was ready to quit the project and forfeit his $20 million salary. “The first day of makeup took eight hours. I went to the trailer and told them I couldn’t do the movie and that I quit,” he told Vulture. Director Ron Howard later said that Carrey began suffering panic attacks. “I saw him lying on the floor between takes with a brown paper bag. Literally on the floor. He was in a terrible state,” Howard recalled.

Howard also explained that the production brought in a specialist who had “trained military personnel to withstand imprisonment and torture” so Carrey could manage the experience. “He gave me a litany of things I could do when I started to lose control. Like hitting my leg as hard as I could. Having a trusted friend and hitting them in the arm. Eating everything in sight. If there’s a TV on when you start to lose control, turn it off and turn on the radio. Smoke as many cigarettes as you can,” Carrey said.

Ultimately, what helped most was music. “What really helped me during the makeup process, which they eventually cut down to about three hours, was the Bee Gees. I listened to the entire Bee Gees catalogue during the makeup process. Their music is so upbeat,” the actor concluded.

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