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The filmography of Canadian American actor and comedian Jim Carrey comprises both film and television roles. He appeared in over forty-two feature films, and ten television films and series. He is one of the top-50 highest-grossing actors of all time at the North American box office, with over $2.5 billion total gross and an average of $94.3 million per film. He was involved with thirteen films that grossed over $200 million at the worldwide box office, the highest grossing one was Bruce Almighty.
Overview
In 1984, Carrey gained his first lead role in the short-lived TV series The Duck Factory, playing a young cartoonist and his first starring role proper in Once Bitten, a comedy horror movie with Lauren Hutton as a vampire countess and Jim playing as her victim. He landed supporting roles in films, such as Peggy Sue Got Married, The Dead Pool and Earth Girls Are Easy.
Carrey’s real breakthrough came in 1994, when he was given the leading role in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, in which he played a goof-ball detective specialized in crimes involving animals. The film would go on to earn over $72 million at the box office. He followed this up with another two commercial successes: The Mask, in which he played a mild-mannered bank clerk who transformed into a wise-cracking superhero when he puts on a magical mask, and Dumb and Dumber where he and Jeff Daniels played a pair of childish men who come into possession of a suitcase full of money. The films ended up grossing $120 million and $127 million, respectively, and established Carrey as a star. His next projects included Batman Forever, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls in which he reprised his famed role, The Cable Guy and Liar Liar.
He gained critical acclaim in 1998's satirical comedy-drama film The Truman Show, in which he played Truman Burbank, a man whose life was, unbeknownst to him, a top-rating reality television show. The film was highly praised and led many to believe he would be nominated for an Oscar, but instead he picked up his first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama. He returned to comedy in 2000 reteaming with the Farrelly brothers for Me, Myself and Irene, it received mixed reviews but enjoyed box office success. That same year, Carrey also appeared in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. He again turned a serious side for Frank Darabont's The Majestic.
In July 2002, Carrey announced he would co-star with Garry Shandling in Over the Hedge. In October 2004, however, he dropped out, and was replaced with Bruce Willis. For his next feature film, Carrey starred opposite Jennifer Aniston and Morgan Freeman in Tom Shadyac's international hit comedy Bruce Almighty, portraying a television newsman who unexpectedly receives God's omnipotent abilities when the deity decides to take a vacation. It remains his most financially successful film to date. In 2004, he took a role in the critically lauded art-house film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, written by acclaimed screenwriter Charlie Kaufmann and directed by the innovative Michael Gondry. Carrey starred opposite Kate Winslet as a man pursued through his memories as they are erased.
Carrey received his fourth Golden Globe Award nomination, and was also nominated for his first BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Among his films in the 2000s were Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Fun with Dick and Jane, The Number 23, Horton Hears a Who!, Yes Man, I Love You Phillip Morris and A Christmas Carol. In 2011, he starred in Mr. Popper's Penguins as a divorced real estate entrepreneur, who becomes the caretaker of a family of penguins, and as a street-magician in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. He had a cameo in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, and reprised the role of Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber To, where he again worked with the Farrelly brothers and Jeff Daniels.