Jim Carrey says torture enduring specialist helped him play his Grinch character
Jim Carrey is opening up again on the lengths he went through to play the Grinch.
The actor, who starred as the furry green Christmas skeptic in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," told Vulture in a story published Friday that his training for the role involved a man who trained CIA officers on enduring torture.
Carrey said the tactic came about at the onset of filming, when he considered quitting the project.
"The first day in makeup took eight hours. And I went into the trailer and asked Ron and Brian to come in, and I told them that I wouldn’t be able to do the movie and I was quitting," said Carrey, describing the conversation with director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer.
According to Carrey, he even offered to pay back the money he had earned.
"I will give all my money back. I’ll pay interest. But I quit," he added.
According to the conversation in Vulture, which included Howard and Grazer, Carrey agreed to spend time with a specialist Grazer had found, a man who trained with CIA officers on how to withstand torture.
"He gave me a litany of things that I could do when I began to spiral," said Carrey.
According to Carrey, some of those tools were "Eat everything in sight. Changing patterns in the room. If there’s a TV on when you start to spiral, turn it off and turn the radio on."
Other tools included "punch myself in the leg as hard as I can" and "have a friend that I trust and punch him in the arm."
Carrey shared part of the uncomfortable get-up included an itchy suit, 10-inch nails and contact lenses that "covered the entire eyeball."
Carrey's portrayal of the Grinch would go on to be widely celebrated in the now-iconic 2000 live-action movie adapted from the Dr. Seuss story about the Christmas-hating villain of "Whoville."
Carrey has spoken in the past about his experience as the Grinch, sharing bits of his torture training on "The Graham Norton Show" in 2014.
For his performance, Carrey received a Golden Globe nomination.
Carrey's training would prove to pay off financially as "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" brought in $347,522,208 at the worldwide box office, according to The Numbers.
ABC News has reached out to a representative for Carrey for any more information on his time playing the Grinch.
