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\nJim Carrey offered to return his $20 million Grinch salary and was going to quit the movie amid “panic attacks” over the makeup. Then \u201ca guy who trained the military on enduring torture” was hired to help him.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard Marcinko was a gentleman that trained CIA officers and\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/AgDaHi2O7L<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Variety (@Variety) December 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Vulture has an oral history of the making of the live-action Grinch starring Jim Carrey.<\/p>\n
One revelation was that the studio initially just wanted to paint Jim Carrey green. Makeup designer Rick Baker was against this and leaked it to Ain\u2019t It Cool News and the backlash caused the studio to change their mind.<\/p>\n
Jim Carrey\u2019s makeup and costume required eight hours of set up and he was miserable inside it; \u201cThe suit was made of unnervingly itchy yak hair that drove me insane all day long. I had ten-inch-long fingers, so I couldn\u2019t scratch myself or touch my face or do anything. I had teeth that I had to find a way to speak around, and I had full contact lenses that covered the entire eyeball, and I could only see a tiny tunnel in front of me.\u201d Director Ron Howard said Carrey suffered from panic attacks on set.<\/p>\n
Jim Carrey eventually asked to quit the role and return the money he had been paid. To prevent him from quitting of \u201ca guy who trained the military on enduring imprisonment and torture\u201c was brought on set to help.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard Marcinko was a gentleman that trained CIA officers and special-ops people how to endure torture,\u201d Carrey said. \u201cHe gave me a litany of things that I could do when I began to spiral. Like punch myself in the leg as hard as I can. Have a friend that I trust and punch him in the arm. Eat everything in sight. Changing patterns in the room. If there\u2019s a TV on when you start to spiral, turn it off and turn the radio on. Smoke cigarettes as much as possible. There are pictures of me as the Grinch sitting in a director\u2019s chair with a long cigarette holder. I had to have the holder, because the yak hair would catch on fire if it got too close.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLater on I found out that the gentleman that trained me to endure the Grinch also founded SEAL Team Six,\u201d Carrey added.<\/p>\n