Jim Carrey talks bungee jumping, the Sea Cadets and his sex-change operation
Real-life Jim Carrey: Yes Man or No Man?
“I would say yes even when I say no. Sometimes saying no is saying yes to your own self worth. You know what I’m saying? I like to engage in life, so I would say I’m a Yes Man. I said yes to so many things — from a sex change to gastric bypass surgery — so it has always paid off for me. I kept the weight off.”
He said yes to bungee jumping.
“They didn’t want me to do it at all, and I said ‘I’m going to do it once in my life so you might as well get it on camera.’ Thoughts of crossing over actually were going through my mind. When I got my feet up on the edge it was literally like a freight train going through my veins, through my entire body until I jumped. It was insane, it was insane. I actually had post-traumatic stress after it. For about a week after I dreamt of hitting the ground.”
And maybe a few things he shouldn’t have …
“The Majestic!”
And the Sea Cadets?
“I joined when I was 11 years old … it’s like a military version of Boy Scouts. They shave your head and humiliate you and yell at you and parade you are round in front of the rest of the people you know in the town and make you parade around with this uniform on. But you know what? If I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t know that I am a useless maggot!.”
He wants you to try saying yes too.
“I think if there is a message, it is just engage in life. Say yes more than you do no and maybe a little bit more than you did before and life turns out all right. Usually you regret the things you say no to.”
Even if you get hurt along the way.
“II think the devil works for God. That is my concept. The bad times are supposed to force you into actually getting out of your shell, and going out into the world and making friendships and having love. Those times in your life force you to become a better person.”
He likes it better when he’s doing what he loves.
“I just like being creative in whatever way I have to do it. I just want to tell stories … it’s not the money, it’s certainly not the fame, because that’s a pain in the ass. But it is really the person in the seat you’re thinking about when you sit in the room and write and you do all the things you have to do.”
