Undeniably one of the greatest and most compelling comedic performers of all time, Jim Carrey has amassed a brilliant repertoire of iconic portrayals. The Canadian-American actor and stand-up comedian first gained recognition in 1990, when he was cast on the sketch comedy television series In Living Color; 30 years later, he is a household name.

Carrey’s breakthrough year was without a doubt in 1994, in which the funnyman headlined three beloved motion pictures: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask and Dumb and Dumber. From that moment forward, Jim Carrey became an admired and popular cinematic performer, bringing comfort, laughter, and joy to audiences across the world. Though largely typecast as a comedic actor, Carrey ventured into dramatic territory with moving and powerful roles in pictures such as Man on the Moon and The Truman Show, winning the Golden Globe Award for both.

Outside his work on the big screen, Carrey is a highly-gifted artist and author, having released both a children’s book and surrealist novel. He hilariously appeared as President Joe Biden on Saturday Night Live in the lead-up to the 2020 United States presidential election, and any appearance of Jim Carrey on SNL will always be a cultural moment.

Most recently, Carrey starred as the sinister mad scientist Dr. Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog, based on the Sega video game franchise. He will be reprising the role in the upcoming sequel that is scheduled to be released this spring. Even a Jim Carrey commercial ignites the internet in a storm of anticipation, as his recent Super Bowl Cable Guy commercial for Verion indicates. With the actor recently turning 60, let's take a look at a few reasons and key performances which prove why Jim Carrey movies will remain beloved, even for another 60 years.

Innovative Kid Movies That Adults Love

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New Line Cinema

1994 proved to be quite the fruitful year for Carrey, with the comedian starring in three career-making pictures that cemented his status as an entertaining movie star. Director Chuck Russell’s superhero comedy The Mask was one of the three Jim Carrey movies, and centers on Stanley Ipkiss, a down-on-his-luck bank clerk who stumbles upon a magical wooden green mask that transforms him into a manic superhero with the ability to cartoonishly alter himself. Using his powers to fight crime, Stanley finds himself the target of local gangster Dorian Tyrell and his glamorous girlfriend Tina Carlyle, portrayed by Cameron Diaz in her feature film debut.

Russell wanted the contortionist comedian for the role after seeing him perform live at The Comedy Store and having followed him on In Living Color. Jim Carrey has a kind of physical comedy which can be supremely goofy while also being just adult and weird enough to appeal to people of all ages. Russell's gamble was a safe bet, as The Mask was a smash hit with critics and audiences alike, not only establishing Carrey as a dynamic performer but also certifying him as the kind of person kids constantly quote.

For the 2000 Christmas fantasy flick How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Jim Carrey teamed up with the gifted Ron Howard to create the big screen adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic. The dynamic comedian stars as the devious eponymous character, who hates the festive holiday and all the Whos of Whoville and plots to ruin it. Carrey beat out a slew of talented performers for the iconic role, such as Robin Williams, Jack Nicholson, and Eddie Murphy.

Netflix Pulls How the Grinch Stole Christmas and People Are Freaking Out

The famous Grinch suit was made out of yak hair and the application of his makeup took up to 8 and a half hours to apply, much to Carrey’s frustration; the star spent 92 days in total in the Grinch getup, and learned how to remain calm during the process. Despite a mixed bag response from critics, How the Grinch Stole Christmas was a homerun with audiences, grossing over $300 million at the box office. Carrey earned widespread acclaim for his bold and bonkers portrayal, and the film remains a beloved classic staple.

These two films indicate the massive appeal of Carrey to kids as someone simultaneously mischievous and lovable. His children films Mr. Popper's Penguins and the darker Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events also prove this in spades.

Related: Best Christmas Movies of the 2000s

His Ability to Get Surprisingly Dark

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Sony Pictures Releasing

Ben Stiller’s 1996 satirical dark comedy The Cable Guy features the talent of Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick, and follows an eccentric and lonely cable installer raised on television who becomes far too involved in the life of a customer. Carrey shines as Ernie “Chip” Douglas, who is desperate to find a new friend and believes he has in architect Steven Kocvacs (Broderick), but when the designer rejects his companionship advances Chip turns into a full-fledged certifiable stalker. The role of the menacing cable guy was initially created with Chris Farley in mind, but he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and Carrey nabbed the hilarious part; he became the first actor to ever receive $20 million for a role, which was almost half the budget of the entire film.

The Cable Guy was a departure from the actor’s more overconfident and carefree roles, and critics were surprised by the darker tone of the film; this was a surprisingly grim movie, and Carrey took it in provocatively darker and more morbid directions than anyone anticipated the funnyman would go. The satire has since garnered a cult following, and Carrey’s brilliant performance showcases his range and willingness to embrace all types of characters. The dark place that Carrey went to in The Cable Guy could be seen as a precursor to some other Jim Carrey movies which surprised audiences everywhere with their seriousness and his melancholic undertones.

Case in point, the 1999 biographical dramedy Man on the Moon, which details the life and career of legendary comedian Andy Kaufman. The story follows the entertainer’s rise to success through appearances at comedy clubs and television shows, most notably on Saturday Night Live, Taxi, and Late Night With David Letterman. Carrey adopted a rigid method acting approach for the portrayal, staying completely in character as Kaufman both on set and off; there's even a documentary following his bizarre methods, Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond. His passionate and compelling performance was singled out by critics and viewers, and Carrey rightfully won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for the moving depiction.

Using His Star Power to Explore Deep Themes

Jim Carrey movies can sometimes be as philosophically and spiritually interesting as the star is himself. Known for his surprisingly thoughtful and occasionally controversial beliefs, Carrey has used his work in some intellectually stimulating films to explore complicated and poignant truths about the human condition. Take the 2004 independent sci-fi romantic dramedy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, for example. The film focuses on an estranged couple who undergo a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories. Producers chose Carrey for the dramatic role because of his everyday appearance and comedic abilities; according to director Michel Gondry, this was because, “It’s hard to be funny. It’s easier to take someone really funny and bring them down than do the opposite.”

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Focus Features

The stunning and poignant picture was heralded by critics, with both Carrey and Kate Winslet garnering rave reviews for their emotionally-driven portrayals of the heartbroken Joel and Clementine. Of his dramatic role, CNN called it the actor’s “best, most mature and sharply focused performance ever.” The innovative and heartfelt picture remains a spectacular cinematic masterpiece and one of both Carrey and Winslet’s greatest projects; writer Charlie Kaufmann's Oscar-winning script is often considered to be one of the greatest philosophical explorations in cinematic history, and Carrey makes it sing.

Another shining example is Peter Weir’s 1998 psychological dramedy The Truman Show, which was the first real Jim Carrey movie where the actor could step outside the comedy box and proclaim himself a true dramatic talent, and he did so brilliantly. He stars as Truman Burbank, an insurance salesman who grew up seemingly living an ordinary life that unbeknownst to him actually takes place on a large set filled with actors for a television show centering on his life.

Related: Here Are Some of the Smartest Comedy Movies Ever Made

The film remains an incredibly poignant and intelligent look at philosophical notions about reality and identity (and reality TV). Screenwriter Andrew Niccol wrote the initial one-page film treatment because, “I think everyone questions the authenticity of their lives at certain points. It’s like when kids ask if they’re adopted.” The Truman Show was a massive success upon its release, and truly showed off Carrey’s skills as a diverse and incredibly powerful performer. The star won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, with Slate commending him in their review, writing, “The movie might have been a soulless exercise without Carrey. With him, it has an authentic tremulousness, and also a dread, as if Pinocchio needed to take on Gepetto and Jiminy Cricket to become a real boy.”

His Comedic Chops, of Course

Tom Shadyac’s 1994 comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is famous for helping launch the career of Jim Carrey, and follows the funnyman as he plays a zany detective who specializes in missing animals, going on the hunt for the kidnaped mascot of the Miami Dolphins. Not only did Carrey star in the farce, he also helped rewrite the script and filmmakers gave him permission to fully improvise on set.

On his approach, the star revealed, “I knew this movie was going to be either something that people really went for, or it was going to ruin me completely. From the beginning of my involvement, I said that the character had to be rock ‘n’ roll. He had to be the 007 of pet detectives. I wanted to be unstoppably ridiculous, and they let me go wild.” The gamble paid off, as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was a homerun with moviegoers and spawned the lucrative sequel Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls; almost two decades later, fans still want a third movie, indicating just how deep Carrey's comedy has infiltrated the pop culture lexicon.

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New Line Cinema

That same year, Peter Farrelly’s beloved 1994 buddy comedy flick Dumb and Dumber starred Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in another massive success. The actors are phenomenal as Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, two dim-witted but earnest friends who set out from Rhode Island to Colorado in an effort to return a briefcase full of money to its owner. The bumbling pair believe it was abandoned by mistake but was actually left as ransom money. The Farrelly Brothers actually had not known who Carrey was; they were only told that he was “The White Guy” on In Living Color. When the creative geniuses watched the actor in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, though, they knew that he was comedy gold and was the perfect fit for the film.

Dumb and Dumber not only launched the career of the Farrelly Brothers, but it also solidified Carrey’s status as one of the most prominent performers of the 1990s. The overall success of the comedy led to a prequel, a sequel, and a short-lived animated series. These Jim Carrey movies, along with the delightful Bruce Almighty and darker comedies like I Love Your Phillip Morris and the Farrelly brothers' Me, Myself & Irene, ensure that Carrey's comedy will live on long after he's gone.

Whether he's going dark, hamming it up with slapstick, delighting children, or exploring deep philosophical ideas, Jim Carrey movies will remain culturally important, and the now 60-year-old actor probably has even more masterpieces up his sleeve.