For his role in the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which came out in 2000, Jim Carrey’s tortuous costume and makeup had him on the verge of walking away from a $20 million paycheck.
In an interview with Vulture, the actor said the first day of makeup took eight hours. He nearly quit and suffered from panic attacks after having to wear painful green contacts, makeup that made him breathe through his mouth the whole time, and a full body suit made of itchy yak hair. But before he walked away, producer Brian Grazer hired the founder of SEAL Team Six to help Carrey suck it up.
“Richard Marcinko was a gentleman that trained CIA officers and special-ops people how to endure torture. He gave me a litany of things that I could do when I began to spiral. 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,” Carrey told Vulture.
“If there’s a TV on when you start to spiral, turn it off and turn the radio on. Smoke cigarettes as much as possible. There are pictures of me as the Grinch sitting in a director’s chair 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 added.
Carrey said he later learned that Marcinko was the founding officer of SEAL Team Six, the famed special-operations unit. Marcinko passed away at age 81 in December 2021.
Director Ron Howard and Grazer, who were also part of the Vulture interview, recalled Carrey struggling onset because of his Grinch costume.
Howard said the pain he endured was less physical than mental as the makeup was “destroying” Carrey’s skin. It was determined by medical professionals that Carrey couldn’t work in the makeup five days in a row, so he would have a day off or only be off-camera feeding dialogue on Wednesdays, he added.
“Jim started having panic attacks. I would see him lying down on the floor in between setups with a brown paper bag. Literally on the floor. He was miserable,” Howard said.
Carrey even offered to return his entire $20 million paycheck, with interest, Grazer said. But, instead Grazer found Marcinko.
“I said, ‘Listen, you can quit on Monday, but just spend time with this guy on the weekend,'” Grazer said.
Luckily, Carrey likely won’t have to endure the Grinch makeup again any time soon. While there were rumors of a second Grinch movie, co-star Taylor Momsen recently dispelled them.
When asked whether there is a second Grinch movie in the works, Momsen said: “Not that I know of.”
“Some things (you) don’t touch,” the singer said at at Steven Tyler’s annual Jam for Janie Grammys watch party on Sunday, Feb. 1. “Timeless classic. It’s lasted this long.”
A version of this story was published on Dec. 16, 2025.
