Jim Carrey says he became convinced people would take selfies with his dead body during existential crisis

Ace Ventura star said he stayed up late watching YouTube videos that featured images of John Lennon’s corpse

Jim Carrey says he became so convinced people would take selfies with his dead body that he would “make himself up before bed” in case he died in the night.

The Ace Ventura actor has spoken about suffering from depression, and is about to release a new novel about a famous movie star named “Jim Carrey” who struggles with an existential crisis.

Speaking to The New York Times, alongside the book’s co-author Dana Vachon, Carrey recalled his own crisis, which involved him watching TMZ, YouTube and Netflix into the early hours of the morning.

“There were times when I was so afraid,” he remembered. “I see a dead John Lennon on a gurney on YouTube. And I’m completely out of my mind because I realise that there will be selfies taken when my body falls. Somebody’s going to be looking at it as a novelty.”

He continued: “That terror and mortal fear of wanting to make a good corpse drove me to the bathroom to make myself up before bed so that if I did die in the middle of the night, I would be presentable to an adoring public.”

Carrey and Vachon’s book, titled Memoirs and Misinformation, finds “Carrey” interacting with stars including Nicolas Cage and Gwyneth Paltrow, as well as a CGI rhinoceros containing the spirit of comedian Rodney Dangerfield.

Carrey said that the book isn’t meant to be entirely factual, but that every encounter “Carrey” has is rooted in some form of truth.

“Jim Carrey in this book is really a representative,” he explained. “He’s an avatar of anybody in my position. Of the artist, of the celebrity, of the star. That world and all its excesses and gluttony and self-focus and vanity. Some of it is very actual. You just won’t know which is which. But even the fictional qualities of the book reveal a truth.”

Earlier this year, Carrey appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog, a film that marked his first mainstream comedy role since 2014. He is also the star of a dark comedy TV series titled Kidding.

Memoirs and Misinformation is released on 7 July.

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