Jeff Daniels Thought the ‘Dumb and Dumber’ Toilet Scene Would Either Be the Beginning or the End of His Career

Before Jeff Daniels delivered the performance of a lifetime, he worried that he was about to find himself with no food and no job. Thankfully, his pets got to keep their heads.

In Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s 1994 buddy comedy masterpiece Dumb and Dumber, the Broadway star and Golden Globe-nominee took a major career risk by deciding to go toe-to-toe with Jim Carrey at the height of the latter’s box office power. In a year when Carrey also starred in Ace Ventura and The Mask, the In Living Color star commanded a $7 million salary for Dumb and Dumber while Daniels, best known as an exclusively dramatic actor on stage and on screen, took just $50,000 for the opportunity to co-headline a comedy with film’s funniest superstar. And, thanks to Carrey’s help (and a good-luck cup of tea), Daniels’ risk paid off.

In a recent interview about Dumb and Dumber for The Guardian, Daniels explained how Carrey helped him with what Daniels believed to be the most pivotal scene of his career up until that point, as his intuition told him that there was much more than a one-in-a-million a chance that he was about to flush his very career down those blocked pipes.

“I was bored with drama and wanted to explore comedy,” Daniels explained of his decision to co-star in Dumb and Dumber. “But my agents didn’t want me to do the film. They said: 'There’s a chance Jim Carrey will wipe you off the screen.'” 

Thankfully, there was no wiping required, and Carrey ended up being one of the most helpful and career-saving collaborators of Daniels' life. “I remember thinking: ‘It’s either going to be such a bad career move I’ll never work again, or it just might be funny,’” Daniels recollected, noting that his worry about career suicide came to a peak right when he was about to shoot his character's climax.

Daniels recalled how he found Carrey's full-send approach to shooting awe-inspiring, but it was Carrey's comedy acting advice that really made an impact on Daniels. “I remember getting ready to shoot the toilet scene, after my character unknowingly drinks laxative-laden tea,” Daniels said of the day when he finally and fully shook off the dramatic label, "Jim asked me: ‘Hey man, you okay?’ I said: ‘Just cold feet. This is either the beginning of my career or the end of it.’” 

“He said: ‘You’ve gotta go all in man. Go all the way!’” Daniels recounted of Carrey's support. “He couldn’t have been a better cheerleader. Me on that toilet will be the image on my tombstone.”

Thankfully, Daniels took Carrey's advice and delivered an eye-crossing, leg-splaying, shit-spraying performance that showed the world he is so much more than a self-serious straight man. But, as Daniels remembers, not everybody was amused by his colon-clearing comedic turn. “I have a theatre company in Michigan so I put on a preview,” Daniels said. “I was sat next to my parents, and when we got to the toilet scene, my father hung his head in his hands and said: ‘No, Jeffrey…’ Meanwhile 5,000 people fell out of their chairs laughing.” 

More than three decades later, everyone’s still laughing — well, everyone besides Mr. Daniels and Mr. Samsonite.