Look Beyond The Laugh: The Pain and Redemption of Jim Carrey

There are few actors that can match his unparalleled levels of energy and focus. When on song, there’s no stopping the man behind a hundred flimsy, crazy, erratic but funnily entertaining faces. He can make you laugh out loud like a blistering cannon and can sober you into a healing embrace of emotions you didn’t think you had and give you a boner all at the same time; Jim Carrey is a Hollywood rarity.

In the realm of the movie industry, there are all kinds of stars and superstars. There are those who revel in luxury and whose lives are all about expensive, vain purchases around the world. Then there are those who don’t bat an eyelid before breaking into some form of shenanigan purely for dominating red carpet discussion. Then there are those who come as authentic as they can ever be.

Hollywood’s funnyman-Jim Carrey’s life- a journey that travelled many a mile from Newmarket, Canada into the Hollywood highs of California is as inspiring as it is besieged by pain and suffering, truth be told.

From the outset, given Jim Carrey’s astronomical success in the heydays of the 1990s, a time where Hollywood still had plenty of whirl-winding laughs on offer courtesy the talent of Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy- it might all look hunky-dory. But in all honesty, having had to battle depression right when he earned his well-deserved fame made life a constant battle with misery for the Canada-born.

Recently, Jim Carrey- ever a figure of simplicity and honesty- got candid when asked about his hard-fought battle with depression. Speaking in a fairly modest and upright tone, the ever-smiling bloke revealed it took him a long time to battle a condition that threatened to pack up his Hollywood career and throw him into absolute doldrums.

But Carrey is known to be a fighter. Studious and well-read, he prepares for his parts as deeply as one sleeps upon seeing off a day straddled with limitless work pressure. Even when on intense medication, Jim Carrey revealed he often worked late and was pretty exhausted by the time his shoots wrapped up; his depression, of course, threatening to shadow the ultimately productive box-office hits like Liar-Liar, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and others shot around that time.

But fans have often wondered if there is a deliberate reason to Jim Carrey’s apparent aloofness. He isn’t often seen on movie premiers where other stars seem utterly immersed during in Hollywood’s glitter and paraphernalia. To this Carrey confessed to pretty much keeping it to himself. Of course, he is no stranger to fans and is a figure of a wide-eyed smile when requested for selfies and autographs. But despite his run-ins and run offs with fame, the latter only transpiring out of his medical condition, Carrey has put forth a brave foot- and given the best that only a rigorous artist like he can.

Thankfully, as his fans would note, things have got sorted out on the depression front with Jim Carrey happily revealing, “there’s never a feeling of it.” On the professional front, Jim has preferred to keep himself busy, relying ironically on humour itself- as he recently confessed it- in his battle with the great scourge. If you are aware of it, then there’s an interesting Netflix documentary about Jim and Andy- the latter, a legendary American comedian. There’s also more funny stuff lined up for 2018. Till then, laugh out loud like Jim does!