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Jim Carrey, once considered the biggest movie star on the planet, rose to fame with a trio of classic comedy movies in 1994: “Ace Ventura,” “The Mask,” and “Dumb and Dumber.” While notorious stories have emerged about Carrey’s experiences on various film sets, including the challenges he faced filming “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and the chaotic set of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” there’s an interesting detail about his iconic grin in “Dumb and Dumber.”
Carrey’s goofy, gap-toothed grin as Lloyd Christmas in the film is not a prosthetic or makeup effect—it’s his real chipped front tooth. In a 1995 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Carrey explained that the chipped tooth was the result of an injury in grade school detention. “Clark La Prairie jumped on my head in grade school detention,” Carrey recalled. “The nuns sent me home with my tooth in an envelope.”
When Carrey decided that the chipped tooth would enhance his character’s goofy appearance, he had his dental cap removed. In his own words, “De Niro gains weight. I file my teeth off.”
Although Carrey’s career slowed down significantly after his prolific run of movies in the 2000s, he made a return as Doctor Robotnik in the two “Sonic the Hedgehog” movies. In recent years, he has suggested that he may be retired from acting altogether.