FILM-BRITAIN/DUMB AND DUMBER TO "Dumb and Dumber To" star Jim Carrey reveals ambitions for cameo in "The Newsroom"

Record ID: 565703

  • Title: FILM-BRITAIN/DUMB AND DUMBER TO "Dumb and Dumber To" star Jim Carrey reveals ambitions for cameo in "The Newsroom"
  • Date: 19th December 2014
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (RECENT - NOVEMBER 20, 2014) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR AND SCREENWRITER, PETER FARRELLY, ON GETTING THE FILM COMMISSIONED, SAYING: "Warner Brothers, who own the first movie, believed that maybe the time had come and gone and that it was too long. And we're like, no, they didn't think people would remember "Dumb and Dumber" which is odd to us and put us in an uncomfortable awkward position where we were having to tell people remember our movie! And, but finally, luckily we got to take it to Universal. Universal said this is a no brainer, lets go, so."
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  • Story Text: They were beloved by cinema audiences worldwide when they first hit the screen in 1994, and 20 years on Harry Dunne and Lloyd Christmas are back to embark on yet another road trip adventure.
    "Dumb and Dumber To" sees Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels return once again as the dim-witted friends, this time searching for the long-lost daughter of one of the buddies.
    The original film, "Dumb and Dumber," was among 1994's biggest box office smashes, earning $127 million in domestic ticket sales in the United States.
    But as Peter Farrelly, who co-wrote and directed the first film alongside his brother Bobby, reveals the sequel almost didn't get made.
    "Warner Brothers who own the first movie believed that maybe the time had come and gone and that it was too long. And we're like, no, they didn't think people would remember "Dumb and Dumber" which is odd to us and put us in an uncomfortable awkward position where we were having to tell people remember our movie! And, but finally, luckily we got to take it to Universal. Universal said this is a no brainer, lets go, so."
    So far the new film appears to be replicating the success of its predecessor. "Dumb and Dumber To" led the U.S. and Canadian box office on its opening weekend, taking in $38.1 million, which also makes it Carrey's best opening since "Bruce Almighty" in 2003.
    Market analysis showed that the film had attracted a new younger audience, most of whom would have been too young to see the original film in theatres.
    Farrelly believes the renewed success is down to the film's characters, Lloyd and Harry:
    "Although it's been 20 years they almost look the same as they did in the first one. In fact after the first test screening I had the projectionist came up to me and say how much do I cost? And I say, what because of CGI? I said for what? He says, to make them look like in the first one. I say don't touch them, that's what they look like. They took care of themselves. So I think people miss those characters and it is the same two characters with the same problems," he said.
    Carrey agrees:
    "Nothing changes for them. They don't change, there's no change. There will be no arc in the characters in this in this franchise. It's -- just, and that's what we like about them. They don't learn you know they're completely selfish and childish and there's no, you know there's no act. They're completely authentic. I think that's why people like them. They're so purely honest about what they want and Lloyd is so selfish."
    Carrey spoke about how much fun it was to reunite with his on-screen partner in crime Jeff Daniels, who is currently the lead in Aaron Sorkin's television series "The Newsroom". He won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series last year.
    "So much fun. I mean I love the guy. He's amazing. And a great actor and totally committed. You know ego when it comes to getting down and dirty and doing some comedy, you know so. I mean he came down the heels of an Emmy award for an incredibly intelligent show," he said.
    "Jeff is completely committed as an actor. You know a lot of actors when they work with me will crack up and whatever. You can loose a scene that way you know. So he's totally in it," he added.
    Director Peter Farrelly agrees.
    "It was really great. In fact the first day we started shooting, Jeff had just won the Emmy the day before for Newsroom for best actor and he showed up and we all gave him a big applause and then I remember looking at him and he just shook his head [makes impression of Daniels shaking his head] and then he was Harry [Dunne] and got right into it and the very first take immediately they were back to the way they were," he said.
    Following his latest collaboration with Daniels, Carrey thinks more could be in store.
    "I actually said to him, you should talk to ["The Newsroom" writer Aaron Sorkin] Sork and because I should make an appearance on the show some time and we should be the two smartest men on earth just arguing. I should be the guy that drives you insane and we should have Virginia Woolf-type arguments."
    Carrey and Farrelly also reflected on how the 1994 film has become an enduring feature on television over the years.
    "People are constantly reminding me you know the lines so it's kind of nice, a little treat when somebody comes up and does a line and I go, oh yeah I did that," Carrey said.
    Farrelly believes repeated TV showings have kept the film and some of its incredibly stupid jokes alive for many people, and the director promises the new film has similar moments up its sleeves.
    "I think there's quite a few actually. Mine involves a train which I thought was really fun to shoot and it came off exactly the way we wanted. But there a lot of these little moments and a lot of little lines that hopefully people will keep with them," Farrelly said.
    "Dumb and Dumber To" opens in U.K. cinemas on December 19.
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