Best known for his lively physical comedy and almost
rubber like facial expressions, Jim Carrey revealed in a
60 Minutes interview (in 2004) that the inspiration for his
funniness was "desperation".
Carrey said of his youth, "I had a sick mom, man. I wanted to make her feel better. Basically, I think she laid in bed and took a lot of pain pills. And I wanted to make her feel better. And I used to go in there and do impressions of praying mantises, and weird things, and whatever. I'd bounce off the walls and throw myself down the stairs to make her feel better."
At the age of 16 he went through even more difficult times. "My family kinda hit the skids. We were experiencing poverty at that point. We all got a job, where the whole family had to work as security guards and janitors. And I just got angry," says Carrey. "I was angry at the world for doing that to my father. I wanted to bash somebody's head in, basically."
Even though Carrey worked hard and achieved great success in his career, he still suffered from depression. In the 60 Minutes interview he explained, "There are peaks, there are valleys. But they're all kind of carved and smoothed out, and it feels like a low level of despair you live in. Where you're not getting any answers, but you're living OK. And you can smile at the office. You know? But it's a low level of despair." Carrey further revealed, "I was on Prozac ( anti-depressants ) for a long time. It may have helped me out of a jam for a little bit, but people stay on it forever. I had to get off at a certain point because I realized that, you know, everything's just OK."
He no longer takes Prozac (anti-depressants ) or an other drug, but instead copes through spirituality. "I rarely drink coffee. I'm very serious about no alcohol, no drugs. Life is too beautiful."
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