10 Weird Ways That Actors Coped With Difficult Shoots
4. Jim Carrey's CIA Training to Play the Grinch
Ron Howard's Dr. Seuss adaptation ran into difficulties very early on in the production. After spending over eight hours being made up with green latex, spandex and yak hair, Jim Carrey was exhausted, claustrophobic and close to departing the film. This was a problem for Howard and his producer Brian Grazer because they'd been given the rights to How the Grinch Stole Christmas with the stipulation that the titular character be played by Carrey.
Grazer came up with a novel solution to help his star cope with the constricting costume - CIA training. The producer had met a specialist who trained U.S. agents on how to withstand torture when captured by the enemy. The CIA specialist agreed to the gig and flew out to work with Jim Carrey over one intense weekend, where the pair locked themselves in a room together and went through various, undisclosed, techniques.
In addition to his torture training, Carrey also found that chain smoking between scenes was another great stress reliever. The only issue was that he had to use a comically long cigarette holder, in order to stop the incredibly flammable green yak hair going up in flames!