The making of Jim Carrey's classic How The Grinch Stole Christmas wasn't a bed of roses, as a recent oral history of the production has revealed. In fact, the actor wanted to abandon the production before it even started due to the nightmarish makeup process. Luckily for everyone, he got help from a torture specialist. No, we're not joking.
With Christmas around the corner, Vulture has put together a massive collection of anecdotes – including from director Ron Howard, producer Brain Grazer, legendary special make-up effects creator Rick Baker, and the lead cast – recounting what happened behind the scenes of the 2000 film, which adapted Dr. Seuss’s beloved children’s book. It might be a beloved family comedy, but Carrey apparently had a really hard time transforming into the green-skinned antihero.
"The studio said, 'We're paying Jim $20 million, and we want to see him. Just paint him green.' But it’s not How the Green Jim Carrey Stole Christmas. It’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. He should look like a fantasy character," said Baker, who designed the character for the big screen. However, looking "like a fantasy character" came with a lot of problems.
Carrey recalled: "When it came down to actually designing the Grinch to look like the Grinch, they had to put the tip of my nose on the top of the bridge of the Grinch’s nose. So, all of the rest of it was covered and I couldn’t breathe through my nose... Ultimately, I ended up mouth-breathing through the entire movie."
The actor remembered that the suit's "unnervingly itchy yak hair" drove him "insane all day long", the "ten-inch-long fingers" prevented him from touching anything, and he had "full contact lenses that covered the entire eyeball", which posed some serious issues. "We said we could do the green eyes digitally. He [Carrey] didn’t want to do that. He wanted to have green eyes. They were like Frisbees in his eyes. He was in so much pain," said Grazer, the producer.
"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," added Howard.
The situation got out of control on the first day of makeup, which finally drove Carrey to snap. "The first day in makeup took eight hours. 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," Carrey told Vulture, while Grazer recalled the actor saying: "I will give all my money back. I'll pay interest. But I quit." Carrey was being paid $20 million for the role, according to the director.
To prevent Carrey from walking away, the producers found Richard Marcinko, who had trained the military to endure imprisonment and torture. "He gave me a litany of things that I could do when I began to spiral," Carrey explained.
"Later on I found out that the gentleman that trained me to endure the Grinch also founded SEAL Team Six. But what really helped me through the makeup process, which they eventually pulled down to about three hours, was the Bee Gees. 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," he added.
The actor resumed his work, and the rest is film history – How the Grinch Stole Christmas is still one of the highest-grossing holiday movies of all time, and Carrey's performance is as phenomenal as ever twenty-five years later. Contact lenses, itchy hair, and all.
For more, check out our list of the best Christmas movies of all time, and see what's next in our guide on all upcoming movies in 2026.
