Jim Carrey did a very revealing interview with Larry King this week, where he opened up much more than usual, and talked about everything from depression and Jenny McCarthy to The Fockers. Here are some highlights:
King: So have you turned down anything you regretted?
Carrey: I never regret. … [But] you know, “Meet the Parents” was something that I was developing.
King: You turned that down?
Carrey: Yes. I actually created the Fockers in a creative meeting. Yes. But, it was perfect that Ben Stiller did it. When I saw it, I went, “That’s the way it’s supposed to be done.”
King: Ever want to do Broadway?
Carrey: Sure, sure. I’ll do that.
King: Do a play?
Carrey: I would love to do it. I hope I could do it.
King: How did you and [girlfriend Jenny McCarthy] — how did that happen?
Carrey: It’s funny how that happens when you’re in a place that’s really wonderful. I had already gotten to a place in my life where I felt at peace, and I was invited to David Spade’s birthday party. And I went out there that night and I was just in a zone. And I just felt wonderful. It was one of those times when you don’t have to be anywhere but where you are.
King: And you had no girlfriend?
Carrey: I had no girlfriend at the time. I mean, I was just knocking them off one after another. It was just sick. But — so I went to the party. And I just stood there in the middle of the room and kind of had that feeling like I was everything I felt. And she looked at me, and she said, “You just looked so peaceful that I had to come and talk to you.”
King: What did you think when you saw her?
Carrey: I went — well, I mean, I’d seen her a bunch of times, never in person. But I just thought — well, she’s nothing like the persona, like the “Singled Out” person that I met — or that I knew, that I had seen. Because I don’t think I wanted to go out with that person. You know? She was brilliant, but that wasn’t the choice I would make. She was completely different than that. She was really sweet.
King: And that’s magic when it hits?
Carrey: Yes. Beautiful.
King: You can’t predict it?
Carrey: No. You’re just lucky while it’s there, you know. That’s all, just lucky.
King: Are you going to marry Jenny?
Carrey: No. I am married to Jenny. I love Jenny very much, and we have a great relationship. And we’ve both been married a couple times. … I like it the way it is, and I think she likes it the way it is. You know? And that’s all we need. I really don’t, at this point of my life, feel like I need to have the approval of someone in the collar or a judge to tell us that our relationship is sacred.
King: Didn’t you suffer from depression?
Carrey: Yes.
King: How did you get through that to this?
Carrey: Well, that’s another thing. You know at the risk of like opening up the whole Tom Cruise Prozac argument, you know, I don’t disagree in many ways. I think Prozac and things like that are very valuable to people for short periods of time. But I believe if you’re on them for an extended period of time, you never get to the problem. You never get to see what the problem is, because everything is just kind of OK. And so, you don’t deal. And people deal when they get desperate.
King: So how did you do it?
Carrey: I take supplements. … It’s a wonderful thing. It’s amazing. I’m going to talk a lot about it in the near future.
advertisementKing: You’re going to write about it?
Carrey: Yes.
There’s a lot to digest here.
What do we think of Carrey’s views on anti-depressants? Can you effectively address the issues underlying depression while being treated for it chemically? And what the fuck does he mean by “supplements”? Is this like Jenny treating autism with a wheat-free diet?
And what of Meet the Parents? Would it have been better with Jim Carrey? Or was it meant for Ben Stiller?
And what do we think Ben thinks of Jim being all like, “Dude, your hit? It was my idea.”
GET TO TALKING.
I need to hear your thoughts.
I think it’s really great what he said about his depression. You kinda left out the part where he really discusses what he means by supplements. Vitamins do help with depression along with therapy. Therapy is more important. People are less likely to have a depression relapse if they use therapy. Actually most therapists will suggest that a depressed person start on antidepressants while doing therapy and then eventually ween them off of medication BLAH! I sound like a dork. Anyway, I usually dislike Jim Carey, but he seems so much more calm lately. Less in your face, and I’m kinda digging it.
PS. Jenny McCarthy is an idiot when she says a wheat free diet cured autism. Nothing cures autism. A gluten free diet will help subdue the symptoms of autism, but a person will still remain on the spectrum. Autistic children are usually sensitize to wheat, and it totally fucks with their brain.
Hon… you need to realize how important diet is. She obviously did cure her sons autism, have you seen him? And how is she an idiot? LOL.
you are misusing the word “cure” IMO. There is such a broad range on the autism spectrum. Her son is just functioning better. There is no cure. People can still be highly functioning and still have autism.
And how on earth could you tell if someone is “cured” from autism from seeing a picture of him?
Depression doesn’t have to have underlying emotional issues, it can be a purely biological monster.
Ben Stiller put the serious tone to certain parts of the movie that it needed where Carrey is more known for silly (or creepy as in 23) so I think Stiller did a better job then what Carrey would have done.
Doubt Stiller gives a damn who thought it up as he got the money and fame.
Thank you for saying that! I really find it irresponsible when people say that depression is solely an issue of underlying emotional trauma and ignore the biological factor.
Then again, I’m speaking as a bipolar who is going to have to medicate for the rest of my life. No holistic or dietary changes alone will fix me. Sure, they are a part of my life, but it’s so dangerous to not be medicated when you need the medication.
I think he’s talking about situational depression as opposed to chronic depression.
I totally agree with you!!! Good call on your last point.
Agreed
Agreed, Stiller did a much better job with Gay Focker than could Carey have … he’s just a little too slapstick for that role and it needed to be subtle. 23 added a totally different dimension to his acting, on a professional level, Ben Stiller Can’t touch Jim Carey
I don’t know why, but this interview sounds really weird. Like he’s lying.
I mean I love Jim Carrey’s work and have no reason for saying he’s a liar..at all………but something’s just…………………………off.
I know what you mean. It did seem off.
He’s off….smells like Scientology.
Really? Really? he’s a scientologist? Oh how scandolous!!
he shouldn’t have even brought up tom cruise, because they actually still have very different opinions. cruise thinks that all psychological drugs are bullshit. carey was saying that they can be good, for a time, but he doesn’t think people should necessarily take it long term. a lot of people, i believe, with depression and/or that have had experiences with anti-depressants would actually agree with this statement.
he is not saying that no one should take medicine, and that it doesnt help, which is what tom cruise was saying. totally different arguments. his is a HELL of a lot easier to digest.
for me, I have known people who had to take medicine, and did so for shorter periods of time, and later went off of it. it definitely helped them through the times that they just couldn’t deal with. however, i think some people are so chemically unbalanced that they need to be on medicine all the time– or at least, being on medicine constantly helps them live their lives better. I know people that are both ways. I don’t think there is an overall right or wrong, but just a right or wrong per individual case.
I agree!
My father has some kind of disorder which causes his brain to not produce enough serotonin, so he’s taking antidepressants every day and has been doing so for years. It’s simply biological.
I myself also have experience with antidepressants. At first I was reluctant to take them because I felt it would just cover up the real problem that would then not be dealt with. In retrospective, going on antidepressants was the smartest thing I could have done at that point. I was on them for three-four months, which was just enough to pull me out of that big, awful, black hole I was stuck in. I just couldn’t see clearly, I couldn’t look ahead, and I was just too sad to talk to anyone. The medication made me more optimistic, it was a good crutch for a while, and the therapy “cured” me. One without the other wouldn’t have worked.
that’s funny. we’re like the same. My mom sounds exactly like your dad, and I have gone through things that you have. No wonder we agree!
Yes, I agree. Each case is individual. I am a big believer in good nutrition & fish oil capsules though. And why is everyone so down on Jenny M.? It seems that there has been a break thru with her son & she wants to spread the word. Autism is so heartbreaking, I’m sure parents want info on any success story they hear.
I did think he made an excellent point when he said that if you’re on medicine all the time then you don’t really deal with it.
Granted I have no fucking clue what I’m talking about because I’ve never been or know anyone who’s been on anti-depressants, but that still sounds like it’s a good point.
I can see where he is going with it… but like.. medicine doesn’t just make you crazy happy all the time. It is more about stablizing your moods.
i mean, fuck, if I could find some medicine that just made me a crazy happy drone, I would be all about it. sounds fantastic.
but I do kind of see what he means.
Love him very much. Lots of my online friends on ..mixedmate.com ..love him too. You can share your ideas with them if you want. It is a servious interracial dating service.
Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Wil Ferrel….all of them are just NOT funny anymore. I don’t understand how they keep getting work…they just don’t know when to quit.
Just watched Jim Carrey on Leno and he was embarrasingly unfunny….awfull.
It’s nice to hear someone else who is tired of those guys. The same schtick over and over and over………………………….
Scientology, he started taking courses after he met that plastic decoy Jenny.
Anyway Scientologist treat everything with Supplements and those stupid clearing machines made from soup cans, until you drop dead from a serious illness.
Notice that everytime a Celebrity joins this cult, they start preaching the evils of phsycotropic drugs and want to replace all treatments with vitamins and detoxification steam therapy.
Jim Carey should shut up and take his “vitamins”.
Reply
Jenny McCarthy has been married “a couple of times”?
I dont think he said it with a “Dude your hit was my idea!” kind of attitude. He kinda of made a statement and moved past it, he even talked about how Ben did the role perfectly. Pretty sure no drama from Ben will come from this.
They seem like a really happy couple, they seem to stabilize each other, but let’s face it, they are fringe. I loved it when he wore her bathing suit to the beach that time, but I wouldn’t take medical advice from either of them.
Depression, for some people, is like being in a black pit. There’s just no light. When one is in a pit of utter darkness, it’s probably not the best time to figure out why. Just grab the rope and get out…figure out why later, when you can see again.
Some depression is reactive: something bad happens, you get depressed. Other depression is straight up biochemical. One can be treated short-term, the other may require lifetime treatment.
See, men like women that are “sweet.” God forbid she was loud and hysterically obnoxious in person. Can’t have that. Gotta act sweet, ladies! Now hurry and shut up before the man of your dreams looks right past you. This must be why post-menopause is such a party. You realize you really don’t give a shit about breeding anymore, so you can finally get that divorce you always dreamed of, stop highlighting your hair, rip off the fake nails, gain twenty pounds eating all that evil wheat, and have some fun being yourself for once.
Or not.
You don’t have to be a scientologist to take supplements. I went to a kinesiologist/chiropractor and she put me on a few supplements to support kidney function, get my candida levels down, and one to help with ligament and tendon function (I run and have an achilles tendon problem). I have never felt better in my life!
i didnt read all of the interview, i will in a bit, but i will say that meet the parents would have been a totally different movie with carrey.
carrey doesnt share the screen with ANYONE, and neither does deniro. stiller knows how to act as part of a team more. just my humble opinion.
Wow, because Meet the Parents had such an original concept. I was just amazed that no one had thought of it beforehand.
If Jim Carrey had done Meet the Parents it would have been totally lame. I love him in Eternal Sunshine and Ace Ventura and all but 80% of his movies are crap, like The Mask, and his new crap The Yes Man.
hella boring! !
you know what, my sister has been depressed for two years, and it didn’t have any causes other than the fact that the chemicals were off in her brain, a problem which runs on my dad’s side of the family. She became irritable and unable to focus, and the anti-depressants helped her get her life back. I don’t see anything wrong with anti-depresants.
I think he’s much more thoughtful than I ever would’ve believed. I think you can address underlying issues of depression while being treated chemically, but he makes a good point that too much dependence on the drugs can numb your brain to the point of not actually dealing with the underlying issues. By supplements, I imagine he means something like 5-HTP, L-theanine or GABA …. or one of the supplements that affect serotonin and GABA levels in your brain. As for Meet the Parents, maybe a little rude to mention it, but I imagine he said it in a humble tone. But then again, I’m probably biased since I will love Jim Carrey for life.
I’ve always liked Jim Carrey; he seems like an honest individual.
Your all idiots. Every last one of you posting here. I’ve just about had enough of idiots like you. Piss off.
He has experience with that (anit-depressant drugs/Prozac & vitamins–“supplements”) so I think he has authority to speak on it. And the fact that “Meet the Parents” was his idea isn't anything new; it's been known before. He's friends with directors & producers so the idea could have been passes around from them & later gotten made. I think the role was meant for Ben Stiller; it fits his kind of humor.