If “The Truman Show” showed that Jim Carrey was more than just a rubber-faced comedian, it was “Man On The Moon” that displayed the extent of his gifts. The actor committed deeply to playing legendary comic Andy Kaufman and his alter ego, Tony Clifton, never breaking character while on set, which led to some baffling moments for his co-stars. Now, Carrey has provided reams of his behind-the-scenes footage which has helped shape the documentary, “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton.”
Produced by Spike Jonze, the film looks at Carrey’s work in the movie, with the actor sharing insights about his experience making “Man on The Moon.” Here’s the official synopsis:
Director Chris Smith’s fascinating deep dive into actor Jim Carrey’s time spent portraying famed and complicated comedian Andy Kaufman. Using approximately 100 hours of footage shot on the set of Man on the Moon documenting Carrey’s transformation into Kaufman for four months.
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Jim Carrey earned critical acclaim and a Golden Globe for the performance, but many of the production’s most Kaufmanesque moments played out behind the scenes, thankfully captured on video by Andy’s former girlfriend, Lynne Margulies and former writing partner, Bob Zmuda. In Jim & Andy, Carrey looks back at the resulting footage 18 years later, reflecting on how he and Andy came up in oddly parallel universes, his experience channeling Andy and Tony and more broadly the spiritual journey of his career.
“I wanted it out right away to precede the movie so people knew what happened with the film,” Carrey told Indiewire about why it took so long for this material to come to light. “Universal was a bit nervous about that, with my persona. So I was resigned to watch it over and over and over again, naked in a chair, peeing into jars.”
“Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton” hits Netflix on November 17th.