The second dumbing

DUMB AND DUMBER TO | Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels revisit their iconic idiots.

It’s been nearly two decades since we first took a road trip with imbeciles Harry (Jeff Daniels) and Lloyd (Jim Carrey). With a long-awaited sequel hitting cinemas (and opening to big numbers in the US), the stars talk about their big dumb-back. Jim, the only other time you’ve revisited a character was for the Ace Ventura sequel, which happened straight after the first film. Do you prefer doing it that quickly, or catching up with a character 20 years later? Jim Carrey: I like to wait until the executives pass on, before I do a sequel. I prefer that. I like to bury them, and then do the sequel. Jeff, since you’ve never done a sequel, how did you find the idea of revisiting a character you’d played in the past? Jeff Daniels: I haven’t done much of anything, at all, so it was very nice. To be honest, it was a little bit like The Newsroom. That was the closest sequel experience I’ve had. I think the reason why this sequel happened was because, over the years, the fans kept coming up to both of us. JC: It’s cooler when you wait. A sequel, when you wait 20 years, becomes a chic-quel. I think I just coined a phrase. Was it easy to get back into these characters? JD: With the first one, you’re hoping it works. From day one, on this one, it was just right there. Every day was fun. And it came back, right away. JC: It’s like old friends. I tried to tell them to turn it into a vampire movie, but that was a no go. How much, over the 20 years, have you actually thought about these guys? Do they hold as special a place in your lives, as they do for the fans? JD: They’re real people to us. JC: Lloyd feels like a separate person from me. JD: I always imagine that Harry is alive and well. Someday, he’s gonna come and see the movie, and then he’s going to meet me and tell me how I did. You owe it to who you’re playing, to play them as believably as possible. JC: Lloyd is going to ask me who I was doing. He’ll say, “That guy was funny. Who is it?” Where do you see these characters in another 20 years? Will they still be exactly the same? JD: I think they’ll be exactly the same. JC: Lloyd will have lost an eye in a bar brawl. There’s no life arc for these two. They’re going to fall into the grave stupid. Jim, are there any other movies from your past that you have to sequelise? JC: I don’t know. I don’t concentrate on sequels, but I’m not as resistant as I used to be. There are characters I would loved to have done sequels with. I would have loved to have done a Lemony Snicket sequel because it was an opportunity to do a lot of characters. I don’t have rules. If it sounds fun, in the moment, I’ll go there. MM

ETA | 19 December Dumb And Dumber To is out now.