Jim Carrey Said ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ Dug Up an Artifact From His Real Childhood

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was a different sort of role for Jim Carrey. Carrey reigned in all his physical comedy as Joel, a man who pays to have his ex-girlfriend (Kate Winslet) erased from his memories. In his own mind, Joel then tries to rescue the good memories from erasure. The film has resonated with fans ever since it was released in 2004, and it was filled with personal moments for Carrey, too.

At the 2004 press conference for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Carrey shared one of those personal connections. A cherished item from his childhood ended up as one of the props in the film. 

Jim Carrey prayed for a bicycle

Carrey recalled wanting a bike when he was a little boy. Carrey got his bike through spiritual means. 

When I was in the second grade, I had a teacher who came into school and she was an Irish lady who said, ‘If I pray to the Virgin Mary and ask for anything I want, she gives me anything I want.’  I’m sitting in the back of the class going, ‘Hmm…’  So, I went home and I prayed to the Virgin Mary for a bicycle, for a Mustang bike. I didn’t ask for a green bike, but a Mustang bike. Two weeks later, I won a green Mustang bike in a raffle I didn’t enter.  A friend of mine put my name in to a sporting goods store and I won the bike.”

Jim Carrey, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind press conference, 2004

Jim Carrey has a green bike in ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’

Carrey had nothing to do with the props for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and he didn’t tell anybody about the bike. So, when he saw it again, he felt there were powerful forces at work.

“That bike showed up in the movie without me even trying in the scene where the rain starts and I start trying to bring her back to when I grew up in the memories,” Carrey said. “The Mustang bike, when it showed up that day, I was so excited because this is how my life is. It’s like, ‘Wow! Okay, so I’m going back into my past, and here’s the magical Mustang bike!’ Green, everything, the whole thing was the exact bike I had, and I didn’t do it.”

One last ride for ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’

Carrey took one last ride on that green Mustang bike that day on the set of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

“So, I got to speed off on my Mustang bike from memories past,” Carrey said.

He didn’t keep the bike, Carrey said. He drove a Harley-Davidson motorcycle at the time.  

“What was interesting was during the movie was that these psychic things were happening,” Carrey said. “Of course, I was pouring a lot of what I’ve gone through into it as much as I could.”