1994 was the year that changed Jim Carrey’s life. After years of grinding away on the comedy club circuit and doing sketch shows, he finally saw his break with the release of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Later that same year, the classic comedy Dumb and Dumber came out. However, in between these two films, Carrey starred in a surprise hit that had everybody talking. That film, still beloved today by audiences of all ages, is The Mask.
The story follows a timid bank clerk called Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey) who stumbles across a mask possessed by the spirit of the Norse god Loki. Once he puts on the mask, his entire life changes and he suddenly becomes a playboy with supernatural powers. His new confidence and charm allows him to grab the attention of Tina (Cameron Diaz), a nightclub singer, but he also falls into some troubles that get him noticed by a vengeful crime boss, who makes it his mission to destroy Ipkiss’ alter-ego.
The film made stars out of both Carrey and Diaz and allowed audiences to see witness Carrey's unforgettable talent for physical comedy. Today, people still make references to the many quotable moments in The Mask and the infamous yellow zoot suit Carrey wears is a Halloween costume staple.
If you know and love this classic '90s comedy, than you’ll certainly want to learn about the ins and outs of how this incredible movie was made. You better believe they’re s-s-s-s-s-s-mokin'!
With that in mind, here are 20 Crazy Details Behind The Making Of The Mask.
The Mask is Based on a Comic Book
While The Mask will always be ed as one of Jim Carrey’s goofiest, zaniest movies, the film is actually based on some pretty gory comics. The inspiration for the film comes from the Dark Horse comic series of the same name, written by John Arcudi and drawn by Doug Mahnke, which sees the main character, still Stanley Ipkiss, become a violent maniac.
The Dark Horse comic sthe film is based on are pretty disturbing, and the content makes these stories stand out as some of the most violent of the 1980s.
It’s doubtful that Arcudi and Mahnke would have imagined that their super dark comic series would become one of the funniest, most kid-friendly blockbusters of the '90s, but as we all know now, that’s exactly what happened.
The Film Was Originally Meant To Be A Horror
Most of us watching The Mask at some point in our lives. Whether you were the parent or the kid being taken to see it, the movie was, and still is, considered a family-favorite. Well, if things had originally gone to plan, we could have seen a much darker, much less child-appropriate film coming to theaters in the 1990s.
As mentioned, The Mask is based on the very gory Dark Horse comics. According to The Hollywood News, the film’s director Chuck Russell, itted that he was originally planning on making the film in a similar way to the film Nightmare On Elm Street: “We started to look at adapting The Mask as a new horror series.”
However, when Russell was inspired to hire Jim Carrey for the lead role, he decided to adapt the story into a comedy.
Jim Carrey Was A Risky Casting Choice
Before starring in The Mask, Jim Carrey made a huge name for himself that same year in 1994 with the release of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. While the goofy movie made film industry big shots realize that Carrey was a viable movie star, the critics slated him. Roger Ebert was his harshest viewer, saying he was a “hyper goon.”
According to The Hollywood News, when director Chuck Russell suggested bringing in Carrey to play the main part in The Mask, the production company, New Line Cinema, thought he was “off [his] rocker.”
Well, as we all know now, The Mask helped to catapult Jim Carrey to fame, and from this performance he was able to secure another one of his most famous roles, Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber.
Cameron Diaz had never acted before
Cameron Diaz is one of Hollywood’s most famous stars, but in 1994 she was still relatively unknown.
Before turning her sights to the world of acting, Cameron Diaz was working as a model.
However, it was Chuck Russell who offered the actress her first ever film role. In his interview with The Hollywood News, Russell revealed: “Cameron was brand new and had literally never acted before.”
Well, it turns out the rookie actress was a natural, and she skyrocketed to fame after the release of The Mask, soon becoming one of Hollywood’s top-billed stars. Diaz was sensational as the seductress Tina in the film, the infamous critic Roger Ebert even calling her “a true discovery in the film” in his 1994 review of the movie.
Jim Carrey’s paycheck was tiny
“Tiny” is a very relative term here, but the truth is Jim Carrey wasn’t paid nearly as much as you might expect for as hit film like The Mask.
According to Rolling Stone, Carrey made just $450,000 for his role in this now-cherished movie, which may seem like a lot of cash to most of us, but it’s definitely peanuts compared to the $7 million paycheck he picked up a few months later for his part in Dumb and Dumber.
Apparently, the reason why the makers of The Mask were able to secure Carrey for such a small amount was due to the fact that they signed him on for the lead role before the release of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
Cameron Diaz’s Singing Was Dubbed
For those of you who have watched the classic 1997 rom-com My Best Friend’s Wedding, you’ll undoubtedly the karaoke scene in which Cameron Diaz bravely stands up and belts out the song “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself”. That performance was painfully croaky, to say the least.
However, this really was Diaz singing, as confirmed by Entertainment Weekly when the music supervisor for the film said: "Cameron had been practicing [her lip-synching] but P.J. decided it would be better to see if she could sing it live, then she’d be embarrassed, like her character.”
Because Diaz was not a talented vocalist, Tina’s song “Ain’t I Good to You” in The Mask was dubbed.
The true singer was Susan Boyd, as revealed by Consequence of Sound.
Jim Carrey's Face Saved The Movie’s Budget
One of the most amazing things about Jim Carrey is his sheer talent for contorting his face and body into unimaginable positions.
Watch any '90s Carrey movie, and you’ll be be both in awe and hysterics over the ludicrous ways he distorts his features.
This was definitely one of the reasons why Chuck Russell was so keen to cast Carrey as Stanley Ipkiss, as his already cartoonish ability to twist his face into odd shapes suited the role perfectly.
Russell has itted that the film’s production team saved a huge amount of money on special effects thanks to Jim Carrey’s talent for cartoonish contortion.
Russell said to the Chicago Tribune: “The guys at ILM said they figured I saved about a million bucks once I got Jim, just on what he was able to do, versus what we intended to do originally."
Nicolas Cage almost played The Mask
It’s clear that the choice to sign Jim Carrey on as the lead role of The Mask was one of the best casting decisions ever made, and it’s certainly difficult to imagine anyone else coming even remotely close to being able to deliver a comparable performance.
However, before Carrey was officially offered the role, there were a few other famous faces who were considered for the part of Stanley Ipkiss. According to Digital Spy, Matthew Broderick and Nicolas Cage were both shortlisted for the lead part.
Although both Broderick and Cage are brilliant actors in their own right, it’s undeniable that they both would have paled in comparison to Carrey in this particular role.
As hilarious as it might be to imagine Cage as Cuban Pete, there’s definitely only one actor who could have pulled it off, and that’s Carrey.
The Famous Yellow Zoot Suit's Backstory
One of the first things people think about when The Mask is mentioned is the bright yellow zoot suit Jim Carrey’s character wears in the film.
The suit has become iconic, and is as much a symbol of the movie as the green mask itself.
While this was clearly a stroke of genius on the costume department’s part, the reality is, there is actually some background context to this choice of outfit.
According to Famous Actors, the yellow zoot suit is actually reminiscent of the outfit Jim Carrey wore for his first-ever stand-up gig at Yuk Yuk’s comedy club, which was a polyester yellow suit, lovingly handmade by his mother. Apparently this first show was a complete disaster, so it’s only fitting that Carrey wear a tribute to this memory in one of his biggest ever films.
The Ghostbusters crossover
The Mask takes inspiration from a lot of classic pop culture moments in history, and references quite a few movies and TV shows during its running time, especially cartoons. However, did you know that there’s a piece of Ghostbusters in the film?
The garage from which Stanley Ipkiss retrieves his loaned car is actually the famous firehouse that is extensively featured in Ghostbusters which came out in 1984, exactly ten years before The Mask. It’s always fun to see familiar locations pop up in different films, especially when they are used to different effect in each one.
Who would have guessed that Ghostbusters and The Mask would be connected?
