Dumb and Dumber star Jeff Daniels reveals the one scene that was improvised by Jim Carrey. The film from director Peter Farrelly was a financial success when it released in 1994, and while it had mostly positive reviews at the time, it has since become a cult film and remains a beloved comedy for many. While a prequel with different stars released in 2003, the original pairing of Carrey and Daniels reunited for a sequel, Dumb and Dumber To, in 2014.
Farrelly's film was the capstone on Carrey's breakout year, completing a sudden rise to superstardom that remains a remarkable event in Hollywood history. The Canadian comedian starred in three hits that all released in 1994: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective in February; The Mask in July; and Dumb and Dumber in December. The combination made him the second-highest grossing actor of the year, behind Tom Hanks, and saw Carrey go from a cast member on the TV sketch show In Living Color to a movie star who could demand multi-million dollar salaries.
While Carrey is known for his talent as an improviser, his Dumb and Dumber co-star Daniels reveals in an interview with GQ that he mostly stuck to the script on that movie. The one major exception, Daniels recalls, was the "most annoying sound in the world" moment, which remains one of the film's most memorable scenes. He says Carrey threw that into a take on a whim, and he did his best to follow along:
There were moments, very few, where Jim would go off. And one of the few was, "You wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?" That was in the middle of a take, what's he doing? "Eeeeehhh" and then he does it, and I just repeated what he was doing, because when in doubt, repeat Jim. And that was kind of it, that was - I don't remember other improv stuff.
Elsewhere in the interview, Daniels describes the process of his casting in Dumb and Dumber, which was controversial at the time. The studio wanted another comedian to pair with Carrey, but he and the director insisted on an actor who could ground the scenes, rather than turn them into a competition for who could get the biggest laugh. Though executives agreed to go with Daniels, the American actor recounts that his first week of filming was all spent on scenes without Carrey, which he eventually realized was a second, secret audition to give them time to fire him if he didn't deliver.
Fans of Dumb and Dumber might be surprised to learn there wasn't more improv from Carrey, but the one moment that did make the cut is a testament to his comedy chops. It's interesting to revisit this period in Carrey's career, given that he would go on to venture into Daniels's territory of prestige drama with films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The anecdote also makes the scene in question that much funnier, knowing that Mike Starr, who played the character subjected to the so-called world's worst noise, had no idea the grating sound was coming.
Source: GQ