Jim Carrey Mocks David Letterman For “Gay Leading Man” Question

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by Mark Joyella | 12:29 pm, November 23rd, 2010

» 11 comments

In case you hadn’t heard, Jim Carrey‘s got a new movie coming out, I Love You Phillip Morris, in which Carrey plays con man who escapes from Texas prisons four times. It’s based on a true story, and oh, the other thing about Carrey’s character is that he’s gay, and in love with a man played by co-star Ewan McGregor.

Enter David Letterman, and the lively chat Friday night starts to look like dinner at your grandparents when somebody mistakenly brings up politics. Silverware clanks onto the china.

Stumbling to phrase the question–perhaps not wanting to seem in any way offensive, but just missing–Letterman asks Carrey if he thinks, you know, maybe this wasn’t the right role for him:

“in terms of a leading man, a heterosexual leading man, a heterosexual playing a homosexual, do homosexuals say ‘well, that shouldn’t have been a homosexual’ or do you worry about your image as a heterosexual leading man playing a homosexual?”

And like a kid playing t-ball, Carry doesn’t miss the chance to knock it straight back at Old Man Dave:

“Boy, we haven’t grown at all, have we? We haven’t grown at all…. We’re still children in the schoolyard. Honestly. No offense Dave, for god’s sakes, have you ever seen a gay man? Are there gay people in Indiana? Is it ok to be gay there, is what I’m asking. There’s not a policy against gay people there or here?”

Letterman may not be the only one not quite sure how to approach Jim Carrey in a “gay leading role.” Back in April, the LA Times reported the film had been shelved “indefinitely” amid speculation the studio wasn’t sure how to market the film.

Watch the entire–very funny–interview here, from CBS:

David Letterman, gay leading man, i love you phillip morris, Jim Carrey, Late Show

skyfet

Old news! Film is not new. Again you got your facts wrong.
writer

I guess Dave thought Jim actually had superpowers in Bruce Almighty.
omega919

skyfet said:
Film is not new. Again you got your facts wrong.

Um, the films isn’t released in theaters until next month. I think that constitutes as new.
skyfet

Mad man.
skyfet

@omega919
It’s not new if it’s been seen in Europe for more than a year..
marcus.lewis

The movie has been completed for a long while now. It has a hard time finding a distributor mostly because of the underlying subject matter of homosexuality. So while skyfet is technically correct, omega is also correct. The movie will be newly released in theaters beginning next month.
Just4thefax

Fact: Skyfet backs gay role players. Fabulous!
am_underground

Like most of Carrey’s films, except for his cartoon character rolls, this too will be a bust. As for his Hollywood PC lecture to Dave “Boy, we haven’t grown at all, have we? We haven’t grown at all…. We’re still children in the schoolyard. Honestly. No offense Dave, for god’s sakes, have you ever seen a gay man? Are there gay people in Indiana? Is it ok to be gay there, is what I’m asking. There’s not a policy against gay people there or here?” I would have shot back, “am I looking at one right now.”

I like Carrey and McGregor but both of their claims to fame have petered out and to try and re-erect it, they choose to go gay. Wish them luck and like most Americans, won’t be seeing a man love film.
pakattak

am_underground said:

I like Carrey and McGregor but both of their claims to fame have petered out and to try and re-erect it, they choose to go gay. Wish them luck and like most Americans, won’t be seeing a man love film.

I’m not sure you should shovel in ‘most Americans’ with your assessment of the public’s desire to watch a movie featuring homosexuality.

It may not do well, but it definitely won’t be because of the ‘gay stuff’. Brokeback Mountain did more than well enough financially.

If this film does fail, it will be because of poor marketing and conflicted distribution. (I myself haven’t even heard of this film until recently… and I practically live on the internet!)
notsofast

Man, those two have never been funnier and it’s a pity.
http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Mangan/100000213524770 David Mangan

Letterman simply is tone-deaf and an imbecilic ideologue. End of story. Carrey is always dicey when he’s not doing slapstick comedy, but he can be interesting all the same. I thought his Grinch impersonation was Oscar-worthy although the critics panned him for it.