During the early 90s one name was guaranteed to get people seeing movies at the cinema in their millions: Jim Carrey. His first lead role in a feature comedy was Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, which was full of slapstick and very rude jokes, perfect for those of us who were in our mid-teens and loved every minute of it!
Let’s take a look back at this comedy gem with some facts about Ace Ventura: Pet Detective that you may not have known.
10. Jim Carrey was not the first choice
It’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role, but the part of Ace Ventura was offered to 80s movie star and all-around good guy Rick Moranis, star of Ghostbusters and Spaceballs, who turned the role down.
The role of Ace Ventura was originally written as a bumbling idiot who was totally inept at his job, and this is the role that Rick Moranis was originally offered and declined.
[rtk_adunit_top]
9. Carrey used one of his stand-up characters to inspire Ventura
At the start, Jim Carrey struggled to get into the role, and when reading through the script found it hard to get into the personality of the character he was set to portray.
When struggling to get into character as Ace Ventura, Jim Carrey read through the script and did it in the voice of one of his creations from when he did stand-up and that’s also where the “Alrighty then” came from.
[rtk_adunit_middle]
8. The film made the director anxious
After seeing the finished film for the first time, director Tom Shadyac was very worried that it could spell the end for both his career, and Jim Carrey’s as well!
[rtk_adunit_bottom]
7. One scene was supposed to be more graphic
In one scene, Ace hits two henchmen with a large hook. In the original script this was going to take their heads off, but instead they cut away so that the henchmen could survive!
[rtk_adunit_top]
6. Jim Carrey liked to eat well
Whilst filming Ace Ventura, Jim Carrey had his own personal chef on set to prepare food for both Jim and his pet iguana, too!
[rtk_adunit_middle]
5. Courteney Cox was not first choice
The role of Melissa Robinson was initially offered to Lauren Holly who turned it down before it was then offered to Courteney Cox.
[rkt_adunit_bottom]
4. Whoopi Goldberg was eyed to play ‘Alice’ Ventura
At one point during production, Ace Ventura was apparently almost going to be female and named ‘Alice’ Ventura. The producers had even decided that they wanted Whoopi Goldberg to be their main star if they went down that route!
[rtk_adunit_top]
3. Carrey based everything about his performance on exotic birds
There’s certainly something odd about Ace Ventura – and you probably get that feeling because Jim Carrey based the character not on a human, but on a bird. Speaking on Inside the Actors Studio in 1994, Carrey revealed that he based Ventura on “a cockatiel or parakeet of some kind,” noting that his clothes and walk were all meant to be bird-like.
Carrey also claimed that he once went to dinner with Anthony Hopkins, who notably based his iconic performance as Hannibal Lecter on a reptile. The two bonded over their animal-inspired portrayals, though it’s fair to say one was more acclaimed than the other…
[rtk_adunit_middle]
2. The movie uses the wrong type of penguin
For all that Ventura is an unparalleled pet detective, he doesn’t seem to realise that the penguins in his apartment are acting strangely. It turns out that he keeps them inside his refrigerator in his apartment, but the colouration of these penguins indicates that they in fact live in tropical temperatures, not cold ones.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective isn’t the only movie to get this wrong. In fact, many Hollywood productions employ these penguins because they get along better in sunny California – and because most moviegoers aren’t penguin experts, and won’t spot the problem!
[rtk_adunit_bottom]
1. The studio wants to reboot the franchise – but Carrey doesn’t
While the Ace Ventura franchise received a largely negative critical reception, the first film made an astounding $107.2 million at the box office, and its sequel made $212.4 million. As a result, there has been considerable studio interest in rebooting the movies.
There’s just one problem: Jim Carrey isn’t on board. According to sequel co-star Tommy Davidson, “he doesn’t want to do it now. But Jim is one of those kinds of artists that, you know, he does what he feels.” So it looks like we might never see Ace Ventura on the big screen again – at least not played by Jim Carrey!
[rtk_adunit_end]