Jim Carrey, the prolific Canadian-American actor is known for his special brand of comedy. Branching out into movie roles, he has had to embark on new experiences in order to make his characters believable.

Jim Carrey speaks basic Korean.  He had to learn the language while preparing to play his character, Carl, in the romantic comedy movie ‘Yes Man’ which was released in 2008. 

Learning the unfamiliar language was quite challenging for the comedian. He stated at the time that it was the most difficult thing he had ever done in his life. 

Preparing To Say Yes

‘Yes Man’, the movie is somewhat based on the book of the same name written by Danny Wallace and published in 2005. 

The movie is premised on a pessimistic loan officer working in a bank and who has a dark outlook on life following the break down of his marriage.

To get him out of his rut, a friend suggests that they attend a motivational seminar that encourages attendees to embrace the opportunity for new experiences by saying, “yes”.

 Hilarity ensues as Carl is now compelled to answer in the affirmative to all circumstances for a full year; learning how to fly, taking guitar lessons, bungee jumping, even answering an ad inviting people to learn Korean.

Jim Carrey’s character speaks Korean to a bridal shop employee while he is helping a friend plan her wedding and is also able to understand and communicate with a man who is alarmed when someone is seemingly in danger. 

The Process

Jim Carrey’s character Carl was not only required to answer “yes” or “no” in Korean but to carry on full-blown conversations with Korean speakers in the movie.

As a consequence, using his usual gibberish to pass off as a foreign language could not have sufficed on this occasion. 

Jim reportedly mastered Korean basic conversation by hiring a Korean language coach, John Song.  The coach reportedly worked tirelessly to help the comedian perfect his pronunciation and ace the phonetics of the language.

According to Jim Carrey, it took daily lessons for several weeks before he was able to be comfortable communicating with his newly acquired language skills.  

This was no small feat for the prolific comedian. He stated about the experience in an interview with Contact Spy, that it was the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life.

He also joked that his Korean language coach had serious stakes on the line, which increased the pressure of him excelling in his lessons. 

Life Imitates Art

In addition to having to learn Korean for this specific role, Jim Carrey also learned to play the guitar, bungee jumped, and learned how to ride a sportbike. 

There is no telling how many opportunities Jim Carrey gets to practice his Korean these days but he said that he is retired from playing the guitar. He also chose not to keep the one from the set following the movie, stating, “guitar is not for me!” 

While we might not be lucky enough to experience the comedian turning into a guitarist any time soon, at the very least, he can thank the movie ‘Yes Man’ for allowing him the opportunity to learn a new language.  

‘Yes Man’, the movie, went on to earn over $220 million at the box office worldwide despite mixed reviews from critics.

Jim Carrey also lucked out on the movie. He negotiated a cut of just over 36% of the profits instead of an upfront salary.

ncG1vNJzZmiblaGyo63NrK6eqqNjsLC5jp2mnqtdn7auecKaqaudqWLAsbHApGSkp6Karq97