Jim Carrey Admitted This Love Scene Was the Riskiest Moment of His Career: ‘I Fought and I Fought and I Fought’

Throughout his career, Jim Carrey has earned critical acclaim, major awards wins, and $20 million paychecks. But in addition to being one of the biggest comedy stars of the past few decades, the actor has taken a lot of creative risks along the way. In fact, Carrey himself once revealed the love scene he had to fight to include in one of his movies.

Jim Carrey’s movies take a lot more chances than many fans realize

Most moviegoers probably associate Carrey with his broadly comedic work. And indeed, The Mask, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Bruce Almighty remain among his biggest hits. But in the late 1990s, Carrey began to experiment with the way his fans saw him. The earnest drama of The Truman Show took him far away from his signature Ace Ventura character.

But that 1998 film was just the start of Carrey’s interest in more diverse roles. Over the subsequent years, he would tackle darker work in Man on the Moon, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and The Number 23. And in 2018, Carrey took on the TV show Kidding, which ran for two seasons on Showtime. But the actor doesn’t consider any of those his riskiest project.

The actor pointed out 1 love scene as the riskiest moment of his career

In a 2020 interview on WTF with Marc Maron, the host asked Carrey which of his many career risks he considers his biggest swing. The actor’s response? 2009 comedy-drama I Love You Phillip Morris. In the movie, Carrey plays Steve Jay Russell, a con artist who falls in love with his cellmate (Ewan McGregor). But another romantic moment led to conflict behind the scenes.    

“[I Love You Philip Morris] I got a lot of resistance about, especially the [sex scene]. My people went f**king mad and so did the film company. And they were just out of their minds over that thing. And I said, ‘You know what? You’re the guys that would take the horse’s head out of The Godfather. Stop trying to file down the f**kin’ edges.’

And I fought and I fought and I fought. And I threatened not to promote, and I did everything that an artist can do to say ‘You f**k with this, I’m gone.’ That was an interesting day because that was that gentleman’s first day as an actor. It was a very precarious position to be in on your first day.”

According to Box Office Mojo, I Love You Phillip Morris earned a domestic box office gross of just over $2 million based on a $13 million production budget. That total firmly places it among Carre’s lowest-grossing movies. And for an A-list star, taking on such a vastly different role — let alone one that includes an intense same-sex love scene — certainly qualifies as a career risk.

What is Jim Carrey’s net worth now?

Although Carrey has made it a point to step out of his comfort zone, he has also struck a solid balance. His more recent work includes such dark projects as The Bad Batch and Dark Crimes. But in 2020, Carrey returned to the over-the-top comedy stylings that made him a star. And as a result, Sonic the Hedgehog became his biggest hit in years.

Thanks to that movie and his other box office hits, Carrey’s net worth reportedly sits at $150 million. With Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in the works, it looks like the actor is making something of a comeback these days. But longtime Carrey fans know better than to try and predict what the actor will do next.