Jim Carrey once said he was trained by a CIA agent to endure torture while playing the Grinch

Jim Carrey he is known for his incredible versatility as an actor and has a talent for seamlessly transitioning from silly comedies to serious dramas. One of his most iconic roles came in 2000, when he played the acid-green creature known as the Grinch in Ron Howard’s adaptation of the beloved Dr. Seuss story, How the Grinch stole Christmas. What many people may not know is that Carrey’s transformation into the Grinch involved a highly unconventional preparation process that included training a CIA agent to help him endure torture.

When Carrey was cast as the Grinch, he knew he was taking on a huge challenge. The character required a major physical transformation through the use of prosthetics and this proved to be a major challenge for the actor.

In a previous interview on The Graham Norton Show, Carrey talked about the makeup he had to wear and described it as “buried alive.” It took eight and a half hours to do his makeup, and the first day he did his makeup he said he went back to his trailer and put his “leg through the wall.” Then he said:

“I told Ron Howard I couldn’t do the movie. Then along came Brian Grazer, who was the man to solve the problem, and he had a brilliant idea, which was to hire a trained gentleman to teach CIA agents how to endure torture. And so, that’s how I got through The Grinch.

He added: “It was quite fun. He said, “Eat everything in sight, and if you’re freaking out and starting to spiral downward, turn on the television, change the pattern, ask someone you know to come over and hit you on the head, give you a punch on the leg.” , or smoke as much as you can.

It’s really fun to listen to the actor tell the story and you can watch him tell it in the video below!