God Help Us, They’re Making Another Grinch

It can all happen so quickly. You’ve lulled yourself into a false sense of security — the New York Knicks won, Euphoria is finally over, a new Charli XCX album is around the corner — only to get caught off-guard by the mean, green, Christmas-stealing machine, the Grinch. Haven’t we had enough of this guy? It feels like he’s swooping around stealing Christmas every other year. Benedict Cumberbatch was the Grinch. Matthew Morrison was the Grinch. But no one embodied Grinch-like resolve and grouchiness better (or scarier) than Jim Carrey, who starred in the 2000 live-action adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s book that gave a whole generation nightmares about a guy who comes to your village to steal the concept of Christmas, only to change his mind at the last moment. What are you afraid of, Grinch? Commitment? Guess not, because Carrey’s Grinch is officially coming back.

On June 18, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that a sequel to How the Grinch Stole Christmas was officially in the works, with both Carrey and director Ron Howard attached to the project. This is a little surprising, not only because Carrey has been somewhat absent from most non–Sonic the Hedgehog–related projects for the last several years, but because of the literal torture he endured to get the Grinch makeup on. Carrey worked with the “founder” of SEAL Team Six to establish strategies that would make him less miserable during the process of getting his makeup on. “He gave me a litany of things that I could do when I began to spiral. Like punch myself in the leg as hard as I can. Have a friend who I trust and punch him in the arm. Eat everything in sight. Changing patterns in the room. If there’s a TV on when you start to spiral, turn it off and turn the radio on. Smoke cigarettes as much as possible,” he explained in Vulture’s oral history of the film. Presumably, if they’ve managed to get Carrey back in the mix, there’s been some magical update to how Grinch makeup goes onto a guy’s face and body (mo-cap?). Or maybe they just sweetened the pot with a lot of extra Christmas presents.