Jim Carrey Regrets Rejecting Spike Jonze As Director For ‘Ace Ventura 2’
Some of our greatest directors get their starts in the most unexpected places. ForSpike Jonze, it could have been by directing the sequel toJim Carrey’s slapstick comedy classicAce Ventura: Pet Detective, if fate didn’t have its way.
In other words, Jonze could have won his Oscar 19 years earlier than he did when he brought home the trophy in 2013 forHer.
Back when Jonze was a fresh-faced, untested director, he had vied for the director’s chair forAce Ventura: When Nature Calls. Unfortunately, he was turned down by Carrey, who has regretted the decision ever since.
Carrey recounted the story at the Toronto International Film Festival [viaScreenCrush] where he was promoting his and Jonze’s new documentaryJim & Andy: The Great Beyond—uniting the filmmaker and actor 22 years after they nearly worked together. Carrey said:
“I’ve been wanting to do something with Spike forever. I was stupid enough to turn him down to direct Ace [Ventura] 2, cause I had no idea who he was. And he came in and pitched all kinds of s***, and he was about to take over the world and I didn’t know it. I was like ‘I don’t know, this guy’s new.’ And I’ve been kicking myself ever since.”
You would think inAce Ventura:When Nature Calls, which has a scene in which Ace emerges nude from the butt of a robotic rhino, nothing would be off limits. So you can’t help but wonder what “kind of s***” Jonze pitched that would have been considered too wild even for Carrey.
Steve Oedekerk, the screenwriter forThe Nutty Professor, ultimately got the gig to write and directAce Ventura: When Nature Calls, but Jonze wasn’t long without work, making his feature film debut with the acclaimedBeing John Malkovichin 1999.
Twenty years later, it doesn’t look like Carrey and Jonze will be engaging in any kind of “crazy s***” now that they actually are working together.Jim & Andy: The Great Beyondis about the making of Carrey’s 1999Andy KaufmanbiopicMan on the Moon,following Carrey as he looks back on his absorbing role as Kaufman. But, of course, the two eccentric comedians couldn’t resist poking some holes in the serious documentary genre, giving the film the full title,Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton.Netflix justpicked upthe documentary, which is produced by Jonze and directed byChris Smith.
