Jim Carrey Felt Bad for the Actors Who Starred in the ‘Dumb And Dumber’ Prequel
One of comedian Jim Carrey’s most popular movies is his famous Dumb And Dumber movies. But he was once briefly re-cast in a Dumb And Dumber prequel that Carrey didn’t think was a good idea to shoot.
Jim Carrey initially had no interest in a ‘Dumb And Dumber’ sequel
Dumb And Dumber To was a direct sequel to the popular cult classic Dumb And Dumber. The original 1994 comedy feature starred Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in the main roles, and was directed by Peter Farrelly. Farrelly would also write the movie alongside his brother Bobby Farrelly.
The success and fandom the first Dumb And Dumber enjoyed inspired a sequel. But Carrey was initially too busy to be on board for a second Dumb And Dumber.
“We didn’t think about doing a sequel until they started talking about a sequel for There’s Something About Mary, and we thought, ‘Why?! There’s no sequel there.’ And then, we thought, ‘If we were gonna do a sequel, how about Dumb and Dumber?’ Around that time, Jim [Carrey] had millions of things going on, so he had no interest,” Farrelly once told Collider.
But eventually the stars would align. Daniels was already on board with a Dumb And Dumber sequel, and soon Carrey would be as well.
Jim Carrey felt bad for the actors who did the ‘Dumb And Dumber’ prequel
Before a sequel was greenlit, a prequel to Dumb And Dumber hit theaters that mainly focused on the characters’ high school years. Instead of starring Daniels and Carrey, Dumb And Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd featured other actors in their roles. The prequel wasn’t nearly as successful as the first film or its sequel. Although Carrey found the decision to make the prequel strange, he sympathized with the talent involved in the movie.
“The businessmen basically went, ‘Well, it’s not really him, is it? We can cast this with anybody!’ They were all talented people but I’d hate to step into the shoes of an actor who’s made an iconic character. That’s a tough one. So I felt bad for them but I also felt like it was a very odd thing to do,” Carrey once said in an interview with the LA Times.
The Farrelly brothers also didn’t care too much for the Dumb And Dumber prequel. To them, When Harry Met Lloyd missed the point of the original.
“We begged them to not do it,” Bobby Farrelly once told City Weekly. “You know, a studio has the right to do that sort of thing, and they thought, ‘Hey wouldn’t it be great if we did a prequel?!’ And we were like, ‘No no no, please don’t do that.’ What’s funny about these guys is they’re grown men who don’t know any better, they’re little boys in men’s bodies. If you went back and showed them in high school, there’s nothing funny about that; there’s a lot of kids that are as dumb as a post.”
Jim Carrey once shared fans hounded him to make a ‘Dumb And Dumber’ sequel
Carrey would soon find himself motivated by his own film to do a sequel. Peter Farrelly recalled that Carrey re-watched the first movie by himself and had the itch to revisit that world.
“He watched it in a hotel, from beginning to end, and called me and said, ‘We’ve gotta do another. This is too good. I love it, and I love the guys’ love for each other,'” Farrelly said. “What struck him was how much those two guys cares about each other, ultimately, and he wanted that feeling back.”
But fan interest would also do its part in reviving interest in the franchise. Because of fan demand, in combination with Dumb And Dumber’s connection to pop culture, Carrey simply couldn’t turn down a sequel.
“Everybody wanted to be a part of this,” Carrey once said in an interview with Den of Geek. “That’s a great thing about it. Dumb And Dumber has become something that’s part of the fabric of our culture. People literally wouldn’t ever leave me alone about it and that’s why I did the sequel. People hounded me until I decided to do it.”
