I’m going to start off by saying, identity theft is no joke! Thousands, maybe millions suffer because they have their identities stolen and used for, usually, corrupt purposes. Sometimes, it’s just to use someone’s face as a joke or to protect themselves.
As we all know, actors take on different identities every day. Their job is to pretend to be someone else, sometimes it’s based on a real person, and other times it’s a fictional character. No one thinks that Robert Downey Jr is Tony Stark, although, it’s pretty close.
Back in 1994, Jim Carrey wasn’t that big in the UK. He was fairly big in the US, having done some smaller movies and TV shows like In Living Colour. In 1994, I was 19, young, dumb and full of… umm… life. When I was younger, I was a lot more energetic.
I used to ride a bike daily, go for runs, get about 3 hours of sleep and function like a hyperactive child. In 1994 Ace Ventura: Pet Detective came out. I didn’t see it straight away, but I had a lot of friends tell me I should.
At the age of 19, I was pretty hyper, and a lot of friends said that Ace Ventura was just like me, way to over the top, very silly and basically a man-child. When I saw Ace for the first time, I did laugh because I could see Ace in myself.
Jim Carrey Then Stole My Identity
Here is a photo of me in 1992, at the age of 17.
You have me (on the right), my mum (next to me), my sister, my dad and my grandma behind us. This was in the house where I grew up. You’ll notice I was a handsome geek back then. I’m now just an overweight geek with greying hair.
But look closer. I have a flat, bowl-cut haircut, stupid eyebrows and, if you zoom in, a chipped tooth. The tooth was caused by a see-saw, or teeter-totter as Americans call it. I was on it one day and a mate pushed it down, I didn’t let go, smashed my face and chipped the tooth. Does the look remind you of anyone?
Yes, Jim Carrey stole my identity, and my look, which I had established 2 years before Dumb & Dumber came out! He even had a chipped tooth!
I’m glad to say that it was only the look he stole, I mean, am nowhere near as stupid as Lloyd Christmas. If there was a bus load of bikini models, that needed a grease boy, I would have been on that bus quicker than you can say ‘You can’t triple stamp a double stamp!’.
For many years after Dumb & Dumber came out after Carrey stole my identity, I was teased. My good friend at the time and I were called Harry and Lloyd for a long time and it still hurts today.
My hope is that Jim Carrey sees this and just apologises at some point for the hurt he’s caused, all for the sake of a few cheap laughs. I hope you’re happy Jim.