6/22/00
When the top brass at Twentieth Century Fox first screened There's Something About Mary for it's studio and publicity executives back in the spring of 1998 they were pretty sure they had a huge hit on their hands. Yet they were also concerned that if audiences and critics didn't appreciate the movie's crass "toilet humor" which had become a trademark of it's filmmakers, Peter and Bobby Farrelly, they could wind up with a release that died at the box office. Would anyone find Cameron Diaz unknowingly rubbing semen in her hair funny? Or would they just be repulsed? But Fox was willing to take the chance on the two brothers whose previous films Dumb & Dumber and Kingpin were similar in tone and comedic style. History proved the studio's initial optimism was on the mark as the movie grossed over $120 million.
Despite the crass humor often involving bodily functions, which has become their trademark, the Farrelly brothers believe their films are always based on a solid, heartwarming narrative. "Our feeling is, if you cut away all our gags you'd be surprised to see that there really is a sickeningly sweet story underneath," says Peter. "We go out of our way to set up characters that we can hang these jokes on. If you do this thing with the right heart, you can make it work. We do feel that as long as your heart's in the right place you can push it."
The brother's latest story continues to push the boundaries even further of what could be considered by many to be tasteless humor. Actor/Comedian Jim Carrey, who starred in the Farrelly brother's $100 million 1995 hit Dumb & Dumber plays the lead in Me, Myself & Irene. And if it weren't enough to have Carrey in just one role, he plays two in this film.
The movie tells the story of Charlie Baileygates who is a 17-year veteran of the Rhode Island State Police force. He is such a mild mannered person, that even when his wife gives birth to African American triplets that could not possibly be his, he says absolutely nothing about her infidelity. And when she leaves him to take up with her lover, he raises the children on his own. Because of this, absolutely nobody in town respects him and Charlie spends most of his time getting mistreated by those he is trying to serve and protect. This eventually leads to him to develop a Split Personality Disorder. Because of his condition, the state police want him to take some time off, for whenever he runs out of his medication and becomes agitated, Hank Baileygates surfaces. Hank is the exact opposite of Charlie; he drinks, swears, gets into fistfights and loves kinky sex. Charlie and Hank have absolutely nothing in common except Irene Waters, a witness to a possible organized crime ring operation and the woman both have fallen in love with. Charlie/Hank must battle himself to win the affection of the frustrated Irene.
Me, Myself & Irene doesn't mark the first time Carrey has played two roles in the same movie. In his last film, Man On The Moon the actor played both the late comedian Andy Kaufman and his alter ego, Tony Clifton. Many speculated that Carrey would receive an Oscar nomination for his performance, but the Academy wound up passing him over for the honor. "They're bastards," Carrey jokes when asked if he is bitter at Academy members for not voting him onto the short list of last year's Best Actor category. "But you know, I've got to be careful about what I say. Please say 'he was being facetious'. Sometimes these jokes don't translate! I honestly feel that I'm so gifted in my life that I don't sweat those award things. I think it would be ungrateful. I have a great life. I have great people in my life, as a person who came from talking through his butt I'm able to work with Peter Weir and Milos Forman in serious projects and somehow the public has allowed me to do that. I'm really lucky and I know that, I also understand that the Academy, their experience of me over 5 or 6 movies was a very crazy comedic persona and in two dramatic films, they're just not going to bend that far, I don't think. It's going to take me a while. I'm probably going to have to accept it from my seat by the time I get it. I'll be doing the Stephen J. Hawking or something. Or have somebody go up there for me while I slobber on myself. But that's okay too because it will make me better."
Now on his latest film, Carrey returns to the brand of physical comedy that he helped revolutionize in such films as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. This time around, the Farrelly brothers threw in a few scenes that made even Carrey blush. "It's very rare where I get into a place where I'm actually humiliated. That was one of those," Carrey says of a scene in which he had to suck on a woman's breast. "It was so embarrassing to me. I was embarrassed for the girl and she was fine with it. I was apologizing to her between every take. That actually was shot inside a studio and when it came time to do it, I had to empty the studio, I couldn't do it in front of anybody. That was really embarrassing to me."
While Carrey himself may have found the scene embarrassing, if not in poor taste, the Farrelly brothers are certain that audiences will enjoy it, for they claim to show their movies to test audiences and rely on such screenings more than anyone else in the film industry. In an age where the results of such screenings can wind up on the Internet within minutes after the lights come up, the brothers have been lucky that their pleas to the audience to keep the plot of their movies secret has always worked. Then, they take the results of these screenings and if jokes aren't working or the audience finds them mean spirited or cheap, the filmmakers remove them.
"There is definitely a line we won't cross," says Peter. "We'll show it to four or five times to test audiences before the studio shows it to their test audiences. We want more normal people, and they let us know what it is. And it's surprising the things they will accept and things they won't accept. In Something About Mary we never thought the hair gel was getting through. We thought it was funny but we figured the audience would be grossed out by Mary from that point on. The audience lets us know.
This doesn't mean that Peter and Bobby Farrelly are put all the jokes they can into each of their films. Their gags are selected and utilized very carefully. "We don't throw everything against the wall and then test," Peter explains their process. "Although the test audience is the final arbiter. And they won't laugh if it's mean spirited, they just won't. We are constantly editing ourselves and it's usually because it's not funny."
Before filming even begins, Peter and Bobby give the script to two very critical judges. Our wives are our first line of defense," admits Bobby. "Every joke we have we run by them and they have a wicked sense of humor like us, but by and large they let us know what they like and don't like. They have incredible power our wives and we're lucky to have them."
After spending so much time playing more dramatic roles, Carrey was excited to return to the world of comedy, especially with his old friends the Farrelly brothers. "Peter and Bobby are for me a breath of fresh air after taking things seriously. I had such a great experience the first time that I knew I was going to have a good time and have a lot of laughs," he says.
Renée Zellweger, who plays Irene in the movie, felt she always had to keep up with the likes of Peter, Bobby and Jim. "You go into work prepared for the scene and you know it's there because you've read the script and you're ready for the day, but it never stops there," she chuckles thinking about the production of Me, Myself & Irene. "It's funny already going into work, but then it goes in a completely different direction and a hundred paces more into the absurd with those guys and Jim."
It could be said that Zellweger didn't really know what she was getting herself into agreeing to do a Farrelly brother's film. "We met in Boston, the 'let's see if we want to do this meeting'," she recounts. "They just asked right away. They said, 'It's bad on the page, it only gets worse. Are you game?' But it's amazing, the faith that these guys get from everybody that's on that set."
The cast allows the filmmaking duo so much faith, that as Zellweger explains, Carrey was willing, even eager, to do his own stunt work in a very physical movie. For one scene, in which Zellweger kicked the actor in the face and he rolled down a hill, just about everyone on set was nervous for Carrey. "Everyone was insisting that the stunt guy would do that for him. But Jim wanted it to be him," says Zellweger. "Kick and then off he goes, over the railing. Then he sprained his ankle after the scene was over on the way to the craft service table. It's finally the gravel road that gets him!"
Bobby Farrelly admits that while their films are almost always physically demanding on the actors they cast, Carrey wound up visiting the set medics more often than he and his brother care to remember. "He got hurt almost every day. He really did," states Bobby. "He twisted his ankle, he banged his elbow, he chipped a tooth, because he does all of his own stunts and he gives 120 percent. Even though he'll have the take after about 6 takes, he'll do 12. He just won't stop."
That might change now that Carrey knows just how taxing a Farrelly movie can be, though he had a very sound, even historical, reason for wanting to do his own stunts on this one. "This was one of the most physical things I've ever done," Carrey laughs just thinking about all of the injuries he received during the filming of Me, Myself & Irene. "I don't like the stuntman to do it unless it's life threatening in some way. If it means a bruise or a bang or possibly a sprained ankle if you do it wrong, then I'd rather do it myself. It's like the Buster Keaton comedy tradition. The audience wants to know that it's you doing the bit and a lot of these things are physical bits that won't look the same with someone else's physicality. It's not going to look the same. The spaz will be lost. I was beat up pretty badly, but in the moment you don't really think about, you're just going for the comedy."
Even now that he's a star that commands a multi-million dollar salary, the Farrelly brothers weren't surprised to find the same old Jim Carrey show up on set each morning. "I think it's just the way the world treats him," Bobby says of the differences between the pre-famous Carrey and the actor he worked with on Me, Myself & Irene. He's the same guy, but he's a bigger star now so he has to isolate himself a little more. He really wants to focus on the work. He keeps to himself a little more, but he's the same guy. He was a great guy then and he's a great guy now."
Carrey's down to earth attitude may stem from his positive outlook on each project he undertakes. "I just think they're all new challenges and I'm getting better as I go along," Carrey explains. "Just like my life, my schooling, I left school half way through the tenth grade, but I schooled myself. I read, plus I dealt with drunks for fifteen years in comedy clubs, and that's a Ph.D. of some kind. It's just growing; it's getting deeper and more involved psychologically. The drama is rubbing off on the comedy and the comedy is rubbing off on the drama."
For Zellweger, who has never worked on such a broad comedy until now, Me, Myself & Irene proved to be as much of an educational experience for her as it was for her co-star. "It was more learning how to work differently. I have no points of reference about how to do this sort of material, so it was a continuous learning experience for me," states Zellweger. "It was very exciting to learn about a different kind of approach to work; understanding rhythm and timing and just having faith that it's right in the script. There are moments between the lines that you don't want to forget about and take advantage of."
While the Farrelly brothers' brand of comedy may be new to Zellweger, working with the likes of a movie star like Jim Carrey is not, for she made a name for herself playing opposite Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire. I don't really know about the movie star aspect of it because when I met both of these guys, the people I got to know where immediately very warm and generous," Zellweger says comparing the Carrey and Cruise. "Then at work, they were very hard working and professional and really committed to what they do. They're perfectionists, both of them, and really demand a lot from themselves. It's wonderful because it raises the caliber of the experience from everyone. Both of those guys, they step in and they're inspiring. Their ability to balance their personal lives with their work and their commitment to their work and what they bring to the set everyday is extraordinary. Their confidence and their creative abilities are unbelievable and truly inspiring. It makes you want to work harder. You don't want to be the missing link, the break in the chain, the one that sucked. I didn't meet movie stars. I met really great people, really substantial people."
Though working with movie stars may be second nature to Zellweger, Me, Myself & Irene marks a first for the young actress; she wound up romantically involved with her co-star, a fact she is unwilling to speak publicly about. Jim Carrey, on the other hand, is not as shy. "I don't go out into these things thinking, 'Okay I'm gonna get this one'! That's not how I operate," Carrey laughs in talking about dating a co-star such as Zellweger, something he has done once before when he married Lauren Holly, his Dumb & Dumber romantic lead. "Aside from giving personal details, because I think what we are is too special to share with strangers in the world, I will say that we had the most wonderful, old-fashioned, something you dream about happening, but it never-happens-anymore kind of courtship and we're having a great time. I think she is absolutely a gem of a human being and one of the best actresses I've ever seen in my life. That's why I wanted her in the movie in the first place. Not to go after her but to be supported by somebody who I could learn something from and trust to be able to stand on her own. She's just a great person."
Peter Farrelly admits that Carrey was secretly smitten with Zellweger from the moment she walked on set. "Jim was madly in love with her from day one, and she was blowing him off the whole way," Peter confesses. "It was sad actually. I guess they started talking on the phone later and hooked up. What it did was it kept him a little off balance. It really lit a fire under him."
With a new movie opening in theaters, and a budding romance brewing in his private life, Carrey seems to be a very content person these days, though he wants everyone to know the smile on his face does not come from seeing the paycheck he receives for each new film. "It was never about the money, it was about where you are when you get that money," says Carrey about his multi-million dollar income. "There hasn't been a big change in my life, except for the fact that everybody knows me. My life is getting simpler and simpler and it's thanks to a lot of people in my life who remind me that if you lose some of the menial things in life you lose some pride and some joy. Somehow there is some innate thing, a feeling you get from picking up the room or doing some laundry that makes you feel great. When I first became famous, I was under the impression that you had to hire people to do everything, because you can. I wanted to be Bruce Wayne or something. I just realized that I have to wash my own cape every now and again. Now, I really am a happy man."
