Jim Carrey's eye-watering salary for The Grinch revealed — and why he almost gave it back

'Tis the season! And with the "'tis" comes the long and winding list of movies every homebody has on stock and lock for the holiday weeks, from modern classics like Lindsay Lohan's Falling for Christmas, to oldies like Miracle on 34th Street. And in the middle? 2000's How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Ron Howard's adaptation of the classic Christmas story, its most beloved version outside of the 1966 TV special, starred Jim Carrey as the green and surprisingly 3D Grinch opposite Taylor Momsen's Cindy Lou Who.

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While the production received mixed reviews at the time, it emerged as a box office smash, making nearly $350 million worldwide, the sixth highest grossing movie globally and the highest grossing movie of the year domestically (with a cool $264 million).

In Vulture's new oral history of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, to celebrate its 25th anniversary, Jim, now 63, joined director Ron and producer Brian Grazer in looking back on some of the ups and downs of making the beloved film.

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And speaking of downs, one of the most complicated procedures was getting Jim to actually look like the Grinch, which involved hours in the makeup chair, being painted green (hello, Elphaba) and prosthetics. "When it came down to actually designing the Grinch to look like the Grinch, they had to put the tip of my nose on the top of the bridge of the Grinch's nose," the actor recalled.

"So, all of the rest of it was covered and I couldn't breathe through my nose, and they had a real problem trying to get holes in the mask that could allow me to breathe through my nose," saying he actually had to breathe through his mouth for the entirety of the movie.

It's at this point Rich Baker, who worked up on makeup and SFX for the movie, chimed in by revealing that the actor was actually paid a whopping $20 million for the project. "The studio said, 'We're paying Jim $20 million, and we want to see him. Just paint him green.'" 

"But it's not How the Green Jim Carrey Stole Christmas. It's How the Grinch Stole Christmas," Rich explained. "He should look like a fantasy character." It's no surprise at this point that Jim was one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood.

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In 1994 and 1995 alone, his run of five blockbuster hits — Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, and Batman Forever — put him in such high demand that he started getting offered $20 million salaries upfront, starting with 1996's Cable Guy and continuing with the likes of 1997's Liar Liar and, of course, The Grinch.

However, the makeup process was so intense (not to mention the scratchy suit) that Jim revealed he actually went to Brian and Ron on the first day of production and said he wanted to quit. "I will give all my money back. I'll pay interest. But I quit." The solution? Train him like a marine with the help of a man they recruited who quite literally "founded SEAL Team Six."

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Along with other changes, like concessions in the production schedule, another thing that helped was music. "But what really helped me through the makeup process, which they eventually pulled down to about three hours, was the Bee Gees," Jim remembered. "I listened through the makeup process to the entire Bee Gees catalogue. Their music is so joyful. I've never met Barry Gibb, but I want to thank him."

So the next time you're putting on How the Grinch Stole Christmas, it might be worth thinking about what the lead went through to put that performance on for you!