Q - Despite finding hours in makeup hard on The Mask, you went back into the makeup chair for 'The Grinch' - why?
A - It was such an honour to be part of the movie. I grew up with The Grinch. We watched The Grinch on television, and it wasn't Christmas unless we saw it. I just said, I want to be the guy! I want to be the Grinch! And the story is wonderful. It's not just about the Christmas turning commercial. It's about people who kid themselves into thinking that they don't want to be a part of the party. Everybody wants to be a part down deep! Sometimes we get ourselves caught up in our self-loathing. We shut ourselves into caves.

Q - What was the make-up job like on the film?
A - The first day I spent eight hours in makeup, and then I had to get into the suit after that. That took another half-hour. So it was pretty involved. It was actually pretty painful but the movie turned out really cool. So it was worth it. And I got the makeup session down to three and a half hour in the end. That helped!

Q - How did you manage to keep yourself patient?
A - It's amazing what human beings can adapt them selves to. After a while I became a Zen master. I started to transcend the makeup. My spirit would leave my body during takes and float around with Eddie Murphy. He was (at the studio) next door (doing 'The Nutty Professor 2')!

Q - Many people aren't familiar with the Grinch.
A - I couldn't believe it when I heard that it wasn't a world-wide thing. It certainly needs to be. I'm sure with the poetry and stuff there would be a language problem in some countries. Now that it is a film there is a visual story that anyone can follow. I know how special it was for me as a kid, and I am hoping the kids will really enjoy it. There are some laughs for the adults too!

Q - Is the film very similar to the 1957 book by Theodor Geisel?
A - For the most part, it's a new story. There is a lot more to the movie thanjust the book. There were plenty of chances for me to go a little nuts! You always seem to improvise a lot on your comedies? Coming up with things at the last minute is really important to comedy in order to keep it spontaneous. Being a comic actor is a little bit like being a magician. You have to set the audience up.

Q - In 'Liar, Liar', you even managed to destroy a bathroom entirely by yourself! How much did you improvise that scene?
A - When it says in the script that you're going to destroy a room, you don't go, How can I do that? You just jump at it. You never know exactly what you'll do. I constantly improvise. It keeps me spontaneous. If I kiss a girl, I kiss her as she's never been kissed.

Q - Do you ever hurt yourself doing physical comedy?
A - I wake up constantly bruised.

Q - With 'The Truman Show', you turned dramatic. How did you feel this year about being rejected for your second Oscar nomination for 'Man on the Moon'?
A - They're bastards! But you know, I have to be careful about what I say (big laugh). Okay - now, please say, Jim Carrey is being facetious.

Q - Isn't getting $20 million a film ludicrous?
A - Ludicrous?! I'm worth every cent of it!

Q - Seriously, how does it feel?
A - The amount is ridiculous of course. It's like looking at a Monopoly board. But I don't feel guilty about earning so much. For so long I had nothing.

Q - What do you mean?
A - When I was 13, my dad lost his job and we were close to starving. I dropped out of school to help support the family. My mother was ill. Me and my sisters and brothers all scrubbed toilets at a factory. We lived in a tent, then in a car. It was hell.

Q - When did you know you were funny?
A - Right away! As soon as I came out! They cut the umbilical cord and I cracked a joke. Seriously. My mother was sick and I always tried to make her laugh. It worked.

Q - Did you put on shows in the basement?
A - Yes, and I also spent hours making faces. It upset my mother, who told me my face would freeze in the middle of some grotesque expression.

Q - Did you have many friends?
A - Not until I was seven years old. I was a quiet, lonely boy who spent most of my time sitting in a room staring at the mirror. Then I started hamming it up in the back of the class. I realized I could do something silly and then people would want to talk to me.

Q - Why are lots of Canadian actors funny?
A - Repression. We're slightly English.

Q - You began your career doing stand-up comedy.
A - I began in Toronto when I was 15-year-old. I was booed off stage. When I was 17, I did better. I did imitations of James Dean and John Wayne. After hits like 'Ace Ventura', 'The Mask' and 'Dumb and Dumber',

Q - 'The Cable Guy' changed your back-to-back track record of hit films. Did it come as a surprise to you?
A - With all the expectations surrounding my movies, I got a little ambushed by 'The Cable Guy'. I knew the comedy was dark going in. I wanted to come up with something different. If I had put one more comedy out there with a two-dimensional wacky character, I think people would have got bored real quick.

Q - Still, you returned to slapstick comedy with this years 'Me, Myself and Irene'.
A - I had done two dramas in a row, and I really felt like having fun again. I don't know how actors who only make dramas do it. Those roles affect your emotional state. Also, I didn't want the audience to think that I'm taking myself so seriously. I'm not picking my films with Academy Awards consideration.

Q - Your comedy can be pretty out there. What happens when an idea fails?
A - Then you fail miserably. But I like being on the edge and do daring things. Back in the old days, I used to appear at comedy clubs completely unprepared. I didn't want to repeat anything. So every night, I was a nervous wreck before going out to the audience. When I bombed, I bombed worse than anyone ever bombed!

Q - When a picture doesn't deliver, like 'The Cable Guy' or 'Man on the Moon', does it hurt?
A - The criticism hurts, but for 'The Cable Guy' I got criticized, not because my work wasn't good, but because I dared try something new. That doesn't count.

Q - The Farrelly brothers, with whom you made 'Dumb and Dumber' and Me, Myself & Irene', are known for their gross-out humour. Have there been things you refused to do for them?
A - I tried every day to refuse something! I said, I'm not coming out of my trailer! (laughs) We are pretty insane as comedy goes, but there are topics I wouldn't like to touch. Cancer isn't funny to me. And there are times I go, I don't think so, guys. I personally don't want to do it and I say, When you do the film that you star in, you can pull your colon out and play double Dutch with it! They have very wide limits. There are so many taboos in their movies that normal filmmakers would never approach but they come from a good-hearted place. The Farrelly brothers are just good guys.

Q - What is it about you falling in love on film sets? You have been married twice to actresses. You met Lauren Holly on the set of 'Dumb and Dumber'. Your girlfriend Renee Zellweger was your co-star in 'Me, Myself and Irene'.
A - I meet people on film sets because that's where I live most of my life. I don't get out a lot and do a ton of stuff. Anyway, a lot of people meet people at work. So, it's not some sick thing! Also, I have dated others that don't do film.

Q - 'Me, Myself and Irene' must have been a cosy set?
A - It was a wonderful time but Renee and I didn't begin dating before after the film was finished. She had this thing about not dating her co-stars. So we were hanging out a lot, getting to be good friends.

Q - Do you remember meeting her the first time?
A - We met a few years back at a mutual friends dinner party and talked for a little bit. I've always thought she was a great girl. And since I've gotten to know her, I can say honestly that I think she's absolutely a throw-back to a time where people really were caring and a very sweet person. I think she's absolutely a gem of a human being.

Q - Don't hold back. Please go on.
A - I'm absolutely crazy about her. Obviously, who wouldn't be crazy about this incredible human being?

Q - Did you suggest her as your co-star in 'Me, Myself & Irene'?
A - No. The Farrelly brothers did. Now they suggest that I signed up for the film simply because Renee was going to be involved. But I don't go out to these things hoping like, I'm gonna get this one. That's not how I operate. I went there to work and wasn't looking for love.

Q - You look very happy.
A - I am really happy. Renee is so down to earth; she has had a great influence on my life. I don't want to give any details about our relationship because I think what we are is too special to share it with strangers and the world - its ours.

Q - Have you adjusted to mega-fame yet?
A - Yes. I like meeting people, but it can get a bit much. Sometimes I just want to go out to dinner without being bothered by people and paparazzi. I can't even take my daughter, Jane, anywhere without it becoming a chaotic event.

Q - She can't like that much?
A - No, but I told my daughter, Well, I'm not O. J. I could be famous for a lot of things.

Q - Do you spend much time with her?
A - I do. She's twelve, and I miss her very much when I'm on the road, filming on location somewhere.

Q - Will there be more sequels to 'Ace Ventura' or 'Dumb and Dumber'?
A - No. Doing the second Ace I felt like I was impersonating myself doing Ace. I don't want to end up like that again. Sometime down the road, I might make a sequel to 'The Mask'. There's a story which I really like.

Q - Is there any other role you would love to play?
A - I would love to do Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar on the stage. I would have to train myself a bit. I can carry a tune but that's a great part. And some great music.

Q - Who are your idols?
A - James Stewart, Tom Hanks and Robin Williams. They are actors who do comedy as well as drama.

Q - Like them, you are doing a wide variety of films.

A - I can't put myself in a category. Maybe I some day will find out about the saying, Every man should know his limitations. But you don't know until you go too far, so I just keep going.