Smokin': Our 20 favorite Jim Carrey roles

After honing his standup career and picking up bit parts in films, Jim Carrey caught his first big break when he was cast as a star player on the FOX sketch comedy show “In Living Color” in 1990. Alongside the Wayans Family (Keenen, Kim, Damon, Shawn and Marlon) and fellow rising stars David Alan Grier, Tommy Davidson, T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh and Jamie Foxx, Carrey starred in numerous now-iconic skits. His most famous recurring character was Fire Marshall Bill, a well-meaning but dangerously incompetent fire marshal who constantly tries to teach fire safety lessons (with disastrous results) while shouting his catchphrase, “Let me show you something!” Fire Marshall Bill ended up becoming one of the most popular characters in the show’s entire five-season run.

Although Carrey had a handful of film credits under his belt, none before had allowed the actor to display his unique comedic range and over-the-top style like the 1994 comedy “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.” Carrey was allowed to improvise and be, in his own words, “unstoppably ridiculous” while backed by a $15 million budget. The wacky, slapstick comedy found appeal from teens to adults, propelling it to $107 million at the box office despite near-universal disdain from critics for its crude, immature humor and offensiveness. Its sequel, “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls,” raked in $212 million just a year later.

Jim Carrey attracted even more viewers to theaters later in 1994 with “The Mask,” a superhero comedy that earned nearly $352 million and was based on a Dark Horse comic of the same name. Famous for silly lines like “Smokin!” and “that’s a spicy meatball,” “The Mask” solidified suspicions that the funnyman could appeal to kids and adults alike, as the Chuck Russell-directed comedy earned Carrey both a Golden Globe nod and a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards win (despite all his hit films to date being PG-13!). “The Mask” even had a shot at the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, but, like many other films released in 1994, it lost to “Forrest Gump.”

In their first-ever feature film, Peter and Bobby Farrelly hired Jim Carrey to star alongside accomplished dramatic actor Jeff Daniels in the 1994 buddy comedy “Dumb and Dumber.” Audiences laughed to the tune of $247 million as Lloyd (Carrey) and Harry (Daniels) road-tripped to Aspen, Colorado — not California — in a 1984 sheepdog with a countless number of mindless missteps along the way, including accidentally killing a hitman and crossing paths with a short-tempered and lonesome trucker (played by NHL Hall of Famer Cam Neely) as well as an unfortunate frost-related incident. Now listed among the greatest comedies every made, “Dumb and Dumber” eventually yielded a forgettable TV series, a 2003 prequel and a 2014 sequel.

Before any DC fans write us angry letters, we’re not saying that the 1995 Joel Schumacher-directed “Batman Forever” is good as a whole. Although it earned some award attention for its effects and music, “Batman Forever” was panned for the selection of Val Kilmer (arguably the worst Batman ever), a Batsuit that inexplicably sported nıpples and a generally boring two-hour runtime. The only good parts were the bad guys, a devilishly devious Two-Face portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones and a maniacal, puzzle-obsessed Riddler played by Jim Carrey.

We don’t care if critics hated “The Cable Guy.” We loved Carrey’s unpredictably creepy performance as Chip in the Ben Stiller-directed, Judd Apatow-produced 1996 comedy. Not only did Carrey break away from purely comedic roles, but he also appeared alongside a stellar cast of Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann, Jack Black, Janeane Garofalo, Owen Wilson, Bob Odenkirk, David Cross and Andy Dıck. Quirky, quick-witted and quotable, “The Cable Guy” has everything a Jim Carrey fan could want in a film.

Jim Carrey’s first certified fresh movie on Rotten Tomatoes? Believe it or not, it’s the 1997 fantasy comedy “Liar Liar,” which holds a rating of 81 percent. In the film, Carrey plays a work-obsessed man whose son wishes his father could not lie for just one day, which of course wreaks havoc on the lawyer’s life. For those who doubted Carrey after “The Cable Guy,” “Liar Liar” and its $302 million haul proved the funnyman was back to form.

Inspired by an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” screenwriter Andrew Niccol penned “The Truman Show,” a comedic drama about a man who is unknowingly the star of a world famous reality show that has documented his entire life — which is a complete fabrication — 24 hours a day. Another huge financial success, “The Truman Show” was also praised for Carrey’s acting range, as Truman tries to discover the truth about his world. Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich and Paul Giamatti co-starred in the lighthearted drama, but it was Carrey and Ed Harris who stole the show and earned nominations at both the Golden Globes and Saturn Awards, with Carrey winning at the former.

The year was 1999, and Jim Carrey was on top of the world. He was attending the 1999 MTV Movie Awards (which was slightly less insignificant than it is now) and was a shoo-in for Best Male Performance for his already Golden Globe-winning role in “The Truman Show.” Except Jim Carrey didn’t show up. Instead it was a long-haired, long-bearded Jim Morrison-type who chain-smoked and never took off his sunglasses. Of course he won and swaggered up to the stage for a rambling speech in which he accepted on behalf of his “new biker friends,” reprimanded the programming department for not playing Foghat, and “complimented” the ladies in the room with a line we can’t print here. He even steadfastly stayed in character the rest of the night. Classic Carrey.

Like “The Truman Show,” “Man on the Moon” walked the line between comedy and drama with Jim Carrey portraying comedian Andy Kaufman, who starred on “Saturday Night Live,” wrestled women, launched elaborate hoaxes on the world and died way too young of cancer at the age of 35. Carrey stayed in character in between takes, later shown in the 2017 documentary “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond,” which helped him perfectly play the eccentric comedian and pull both pranks and heartstrings in a role that won Carrey his second Golden Globe Award.

The Farrelly Brothers recruited Carrey to come back for another outlandish comedy in 2000, “Me, Myself & Irene,” which centered on a well-meaning Rhode Island state trooper named Charlie who is constantly taken advantage of and subsequently develops a split personality named Hank who is rude, inappropriate and violent. Fans of Carrey were pleased to see him let loose as the unpredictable Hank opposite Renée Zellweger’s Irene, even if the critical reception was mixed. 

With Ron Howard at the helm, the live-action remake of Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” lined up Jim Carrey, Christine Baranski, Jeffrey Tambor, Molly Shannon, Bill Irwin and a then-unknown young lady named Taylor Momsen (of eventual “Gossip Girl” fame). With this cast and $345 million at the box office, one would think “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” was a huge success, but it actually didn’t impress critics. However, kids were entertained by the colorful characters, elaborate sets and cartoonish antics of Carrey, who also earned the respect of adults for the effort put into his performance and the abundance of puns and double-entendres sneaked into the script just for them. “The Grinch” might not be Carrey’s best film, but it’s still a holiday staple.

Jim Carrey reunited with director Tom Shadyac (“Ace Ventura,” “Liar Liar”) for a third film, “Bruce Almighty,” which earned a whopping $484 million — more than the duo’s two previous collaborations combined. In the silly fantasy comedy, Carrey places Bruce, a man who is given the powers of God by the man himself (Morgan Freeman), but quickly discovers that omniscience is overwhelming and being all-powerful isn’t all fun. Although Carrey and co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Catherine Bell would call it quits on “Bruce Almighty” after the first film, the franchise yielded a less successful spinoff in 2007, “Evan Almighty,” which saw the return of Steve Carell and Freeman.

We are huge fans of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. From “Being John Malkovich” (1999) and “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” (2002) to “Synecdoche, New York” (2008), we adore his bizarre and darkly humorous tales. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is no exception, and — no stranger to attracting big stars — Kaufman landed Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as his leads. The film essentially asks if a couple broke up and had their memories of each other erased…would they find each other again? Carrey shines as the introverted Joel alongside Winslet’s free-spirited Clementine, earning them both Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. Winslet also got an Oscar nod, and Kaufman won Best Original Screenplay.

Carrey returned to PG-rated films in 2004 with “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” a dark comedy film based on Daniel Handler’s book series of the same name. Like the novels, the movie proved to be immensely popular, although the source material was tweaked into a more kid-friendly film. Carrey was praised for his purposely absurd adaptation of Count Olaf but didn’t receive any recognition outside of the MTV Movie, Nickelodeon Kids' Choice or Teen Choice Awards. “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” did manage to win an Academy Award for Best Makeup!

Tomatoes be damned: We’re going out on a limb to say we loved the 2005 comedy (and remake of a 1977 film of the same name) “Fun with Dıck and Jane” — and Jim Carrey was almost entirely the reason. Sure, there are solid supporting performances by Téa Leoni, Alec Baldwin, Richard Jenkins and John Michael Higgins, but Carrey shines as Dıck Harper, a corporate executive who suddenly loses his job when the company he works for folds à la Enron. The funnyman screws around with a voice-scrambler, pretends to be a puppet, dons dumb disguises and reluctantly turns to robbery in this lighthearted family-centric comedy written by Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller. 

How can you not have fun watching Jim Carrey play a chronic naysayer who suddenly decides to say yes to everything while taking the always bubbly Zooey Deschanel along for the ride? (Bradley Cooper, Danny Masterson, John Michael Higgins, Rhys Darby and Terence Stamp also co-star.) Carrey attends a Harry Potter theme party in a child-sized costume, takes Korean lessons, goes on a spontaneous trip to Nebraska and ends up being mistaken for a terrorist all within 104 minutes. Critics almost unanimously said no, but fans gave an emphatic “yes” to “Yes Man,” which is actually loosely based on a true story by Danny Wallace.

Steven Jay Russell is a real-life con artist and convict who gained some fame after repeatedly escaping from prison in an attempt to see his boyfriend, Phillip Morris. Russell’s story was adapted into the dark comedy (or humorous tragedy) “I Love You Phillip Morris,” with Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor portraying Russell and Morris, respectively. Carrey received glowing reviews and comparisons to the complex and unpredictable characters he played back in the ‘90s and helped the film surpass its $13 million budget and earn $20 million with just a limited release.

Although he auditioned to be a “Saturday Night Live” cast member in the ‘80s and was rejected, Jim Carrey would eventually appear on the show as a host in 1996, 2011 and 2014. Our favorite part of his appearances were his impressions of actor Matthew McConaughey, which he performed in a hilarious "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch and numerous spoofs of McConaughey’s Lincoln car commercials. The latter set of spoofs were so popular that they went viral after airing.

After a couple of cameos, a few kids movies and some shorts, Jim Carrey’s next move was to television, on the Showtime dramedy “Kidding,” about a children’s show TV star who suddenly has to deal with the death of one of his sons. Frank Langella, Judy Greer and Catherine Keener co-star in the critically acclaimed series that aired its first season in 2018 and has a second season slated for a February 2020 release. Carrey also serves as an executive producer on the show as does fellow comedic actor Jason Bateman.