The Grinch sequel is officially in development, and Jim Carrey may be preparing to climb back into the green yak hair that once made him seriously consider walking away from a $20 million payday. Hollywood nostalgia is efficient, if not always comfortable.
Imagine Entertainment, the production company founded by director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer, confirmed on Instagram on June 18 that a follow-up to the 2000 film How the Grinch Stole Christmas is in the works.
Who is returning for the new Grinch movie?
Carrey is part of the project and reportedly in talks to reprise the title role, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Howard is set to return as director and will also produce with Grazer.
The script comes from Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer, and David Mandel. The trio previously wrote the 2003 Dr. Seuss adaptation The Cat in the Hat, giving them some prior experience in the very specific field of translating Seussian chaos into studio filmmaking.
One major question is still unanswered: whether Taylor Momsen, who played Cindy Lou Who as a child before later starring on Gossip Girl, will return for the sequel. No other casting details have been confirmed beyond Carrey’s reported talks.
Why the original film still matters
When Howard’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas arrived in theaters in November 2000, it became the highest-grossing domestic movie of the year. It also won the 2001 Academy Award for Best Makeup, a fitting honor for a film that turned Carrey into Whoville’s most committed seasonal nuisance.
That makeup, though, was not exactly a cozy holiday cardigan. Carrey has said plainly that playing the Grinch was physically punishing.
In a December interview with Vulture, he said the costume was made from “unnervingly itchy yak hair” that left him miserable during production.
“I had ten-inch-long fingers, so I couldn’t scratch myself or touch my face or do anything,” Carrey said. “I had teeth that I had to find a way to speak around, and I had full contact lenses that covered the entire eyeball, and I could only see a tiny tunnel in front of me.”
How Jim Carrey nearly quit the role
Carrey’s discomfort reportedly became so intense that he considered leaving the film altogether. The production then brought in Richard Marcinko, whom Carrey described as “a gentleman that trained CIA officers and special-ops people how to endure torture.”
Marcinko gave him coping strategies for the long makeup days and the claustrophobic costume. According to Carrey, the advice included:
- Punching himself in the leg as hard as he could
- Having a trusted friend nearby whom he could punch in the arm
- Eating “everything in sight”
- Smoking cigarettes “as much as possible”
That last tactic came with its own practical hazard.
“There are pictures of me as the Grinch sitting in a director’s chair with a long cigarette holder,” Carrey said. “I had to have the holder, because the yak hair would catch on fire if it got too close.”
What got him through the makeup chair
Carrey said the makeup process eventually came down to about three hours. What helped him endure it, unexpectedly, was the Bee Gees.
“What really helped me through the makeup process, which they eventually pulled down to about three hours, was the Bee Gees,” he said. “I listened through the makeup process to the entire Bee Gees catalogue. Their music is so joyful. I’ve never met [creator] Barry Gibb, but I want to thank him.”
That detail may be the most useful reminder as the sequel moves forward: the original Grinch was not just a box office hit and an awards winner. It was also a physically brutal performance wrapped in a family film, complete with full-eye contact lenses, flammable hair, and disco-era survival support.
For audiences, the possibility of Carrey returning brings back a version of the character that became part of modern holiday viewing. For Carrey, if the deal comes together, it may mean revisiting one of his most recognizable roles, hopefully with better ventilation.
