10 Movies That Almost Killed Actors' Careers
9. The Cable Guy - Jim Carrey
The king of ‘90s film comedy, Jim Carrey became a huge star on the basis of his rubber faced likability. A bundle of energy in every performance, he might be too much to take on occasion, but he was ultimately harmless, charming, and fun.
1996’s The Cable Guy came close to wrecking all that before his career had even reached its peak. Ben Stiller’s dark comedy is a decent film with Carrey giving a great performance, but the darkness he taps into here came perilously close to derailing his rise. As Chip Douglas he is genuinely unnerving, shifting the film from knockabout fun to something far more edgy.
Later in his career, Carrey would play with his persona effectively in the likes of Kick-Ass 2 and I Love You Phillip Morris, but the greater movie going public were still enjoying the goofy, gurning Carrey at this point.
He quickly shifted back to form with family favourite Liar, Liar, and The Cable Guy’s sinister sojourn did little to hurt his career. It was a hell of a risk for the young actor to take, though.