Jim Carrey Almost Quit ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ and Gave Back $20 Million

Jim Carrey loathed the process of becoming the Grinch — so much so that he almost returned his $20 million salary in order to quit How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

The actor, 63, told Vulture in an interview published Friday that the extensive costuming, makeup and prosthetics that were required to transform him into Dr. Seuss’ furry green creature for the 2000 holiday film nearly caused him to drop out of the project altogether.

“The suit was made of unnervingly itchy yak hair that drove me insane all day long,” Carrey told the outlet. “I had 10-inch-long fingers, so I couldn’t scratch myself or touch my face or do anything. I had teeth that I had to find a way to speak around, and I had full contact lenses that covered the entire eyeball, and I could only see a tiny tunnel in front of me.”

While Carrey “asked for” the character’s design to be that detailed, he began suffering panic attacks as soon as he was in costume, causing him to call a meeting with the movie’s director, Ron Howard, and its producer, Brian Grazer.

“The first day in makeup took eight hours,” he recalled. “And I went into the trailer and asked Ron and Brian to come in, and I told them that I wouldn’t be able to do the movie and I was quitting.”

Grazer, 71, told Vulture that he could tell Carrey was sincere about wanting to quit, remembering that he was even ready to return his $20 million salary to get out of it. Instead of finding a new lead, however, Howard and Grazer were able to bring on U.S. Navy SEAL commander Richard Marcinko to teach Carrey torture endurance tactics to help him get through filming as the Grinch.

“He gave me a litany of things that I could do when I began to spiral,” Carrey shared. “Like punch myself in the leg as hard as I can. Have a friend that I trust and punch him in the arm. Eat everything in sight. Changing patterns in the room. If there’s a TV on when you start to spiral, turn it off and turn the radio on.”

Carrey was also encouraged to “smoke cigarettes as much as possible,” which led to pictures of the actor in full Grinch attire smoking with a long cigarette holder. “I had to have the holder, because the yak hair would catch on fire if it got too close,” he revealed.

Music became another escape for the comedian, who was drawn to one group’s music in particular. “What really helped me through the makeup process, which they eventually pulled down to about three hours, was the Bee Gees,” he shared. “I listened through the makeup process to the entire Bee Gees catalogue. Their music is so joyful. I’ve never met Barry Gibb, but I want to thank him.”