In 1998, The Truman Show became a commercial and critical success. It earned a whopping $264.1 million at the box office against a $60 million dollar budget.

It also allowed audiences to see Jim Carrey in a different light to his usual slapstick roles in Liar, Liar and Dumb and Dumber.

Jim Carrey Claims That 'The Truman Show' Was The Fastest He Has Ever Agreed To Play A Role

The Truman Show is a psychological, science fiction, satirical comedy-drama. It stars Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, a man who grew up living an ordinary life. However, unbeknownst to him, his life takes place on a large set. It is populated by actors for a television show centered around him. In an interview for Screen Rant, when asked about the role he said yes to the fastest, Carrey instantly said The Truman Show.

The 60-year-old even claimed he came up with the film’s concept two years before he ever read the script. Carrey explained: "First of all, I had thought of that concept two years before. I had noodled with it, but I couldn't break the code. And then when I was handed that script, Andrew Nichols' script, I read it and knew probably within 10 pages that I had to do the movie. It was not a question."

Jim Carrey Requested The Actors On Set Not Reference His Previous Roles

The Truman Show was a different type of film than audiences had been seen before. Nowadays, you can't count the amount of reality TV shows available to watch. But back in the early 90s, the genre was still in its very early stages. MTV had just launched The Real World, in which a group of twenty-somethings lived together in docu-drama style. But programming like Big Brother was still two years off. It also marked a new turn in Jim Carrey's career. He was known globally for his comedic, slapstick humor. The year before The Truman Show, the actor had scored a big hit with Liar, Liar. Carrey made audiences roar with laughter as a part-time father who can't stop lying.

Carrey starred alongside Oscar-nominated stars Laura Linney and Ed Harris in The Truman Show. Perhaps, feeling a little insecure alongside esteemed actors, people on the set were forbidden from uttering phrases from Carrey's past "silly" movies. It was clearly a risk to veer away from comedy scripts. But critics loved Carrey in The Truman Show. Five years later, he was also able to win hearts in another dramatic role playing a heartbroken ex-boyfriend in Oscar-winning drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The films helped broaden his range as an actor and prove to audiences that he was more than just a goofy one-trick pony.

Jim Carrey Visualized His $10 Million Dollar Paycheck Into Existence

Over the years, Carrey has advocated for the practice of transcendental meditation. He has also been a staunch believer in the "law of attraction" since the beginning of his career. During a conversation with Oprah in 1997, Carrey revealed that he practiced visualizing techniques. He said: “I would visualize having directors interested in me and people that I respected saying, ‘I like your work’, and I would visualize things coming to me that I wanted … and I had nothing at that time, but it just made me feel better.”

Related: Jim Carrey's Truman Show Film Caused Several Viewers To Experience 'Truman Syndrome'

The actor continued: “I would drive home and think ‘Well, I do have these things; they’re out there, I just don’t have a hold of them yet, but they’re out there’.”

Related: Jim Carrey's Private Home Is Worth A Fortune (It Even Has A Tennis Court)

"I wrote myself a check for $10 million for ‘acting services rendered’ and I gave myself 5 years … or 3 years maybe. I dated it Thanksgiving 1995 and I put it in my wallet and I kept it there and it deteriorated and deteriorated. But then, just before Thanksgiving 1995, I found out that I was going to make $10 million on Dumb and Dumber.”