Residual Mind Noise - Interview with Jim Carrey

Matt Adcock meets Jim Carrey

I caught up with Jim Carrey whilst he was in London promoting Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Having just had to escape a fire at Claridges in Mayfair, he’s full of manic energy and looking far less sinister than he does in the film as the dastardly Count Olaf…

Count Olaf is possibly your best role to date is an iconic villain – up there with Vader or the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – what did you think about playing him?

“Olaf was just so much fun to play because there were so many possibilities. I loved playing this role and always kept in my mind ‘I’m Count Olaf’ so there are no rules – he’s a really dangerous guy but he doesn’t think of himself as evil. As a baddie however, I wanna be the thing under the bed. I want kids to go into their parents’ room in the middle of the night, and say ‘Mum, Jim Carrey’s under my bed, can I sleep in yours?’”


Olaf is a terrible actor by trade – was there any particular inspiration for that aspect of the role?

“Bruce Willis!! I’m kidding Bruce (if you’re reading) please don’t hunt me down – you’re an action guy I understand… No but Olaf is actor who is losing his hair and that does add a danger element to him.“


Children’s fiction – especially the darker stories like Lemony Snicket and Harry Potter are doing very well at the moment, why do you think that is?

“Because they’re bad, children are bad – literally. No, but I think it connects with the feeling of ‘being orphaned’ – even if you’ve got parents, people have that feeling. This film is really different though, really inventive and I’ll be fascinated to see what children make of it because they are crazy passionate about the books. It’s a dark tale but the intent is bright – focussing on how they can rely on and support each other which is positive.”


Were the children scared of you on set?

“Absolutely, especially the two year olds they were terrified of me – it was so tough to get them to smile. In fact we had to get a tiny TV showing Shrek and hold it over my shoulder, so lots of the time when you see Sunny you’ll be seeing her reacting to Shrek.“


So how about bringing Count Olaf back for a sequel?”Hey, if they back up a truck full of dollars…I don't have a deal, but it's one that I wouldn't mind doing again because there are so many characters. I mean, we created 30 extra characters that never made it in the movie – you might see some of that on DVD. Olaf though is a child at heart, he just wants everyone to love him and see him as a genius, so I guess he’s quite like me in that respect!”


Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is the hot ticket to see this Christmas and it has just opened at number one in the U.S. box office so it’s a fair bet that we can ‘count’ on seeing more Jim Carrey as the ultimate baddie Olaf again at some point.

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