Daniels makes smart move in 'Dumb And Dumber' role

Published: Monday, December 5, 1994

Actor hopes to prove versatility, gain popularity

By Lael Loewenstein

Daily Bruin Staff

His new movie may be titled Dumb and Dumber, but Jeff Daniels is definitely no fool.

Still, the question persists: what would compel Daniels, a classically trained actor known for his work in off-beat artsy films, to take a role as half of the dumbest comedy team since the Three Stooges?

"Basically," says Daniels, "I want to be around for a long time. And in order to do that, you have to be in movies that are popular. Maybe not every time, but every once in a while. It's a fact of life in this town, one I denied for years and years."

Co-starring the very popular Jim Carrey, Dumb and Dumber seems poised for exactly the kind of mass appeal Daniels is talking about. His newly practical career philosophy also drove him to accept a part in Speed. And he was right: the movie was a monster smash.

Daniels' statement reflects some unsuccessful films, such as the critically praised historical epic Gettysburg. Daniels also appeared in The Purple Rose of Cairo and Something Wild, cult favorites of Woody Allen and Jonathan Demme fans, but two films that eluded a wide audience. He has also made a number of low budget independent films.

"I've been in some movies where I liked the script, or I wanted to work with a certain director, and they were better than what I was getting offered," he says. "But enough people didn't go see them, and they went straight to video. And suddenly, your bankability drops."

Before Speed, Daniels' most popular films were the spider attack chiller Arachnaphobia and the comedy-melodrama Terms of Endearment. But Arachnaphobia came out in 1990 and Terms in 1983. And studio executives have very short memories.

That may change with Dumb and Dumber. When he saw the script, Daniels knew it might be risky for his critical reputation. "I thought, there are a lot of actors who wouldn't do this." But when he heard that Carrey was attached to it, he jumped aboard.

In the film, Carrey plays Lloyd Christmas, a limo driver, and Daniels is Harry Dunne, a traveling dog groomer who lives in Providence. Together they trek to Aspen in pursuit of a beautiful babe. To play the hapless Harry, Daniels gained about 20 pounds and grew his hair into a scraggly mane.

"It was a chance to do the De Niro thing, but to a totally comedic effect," says Daniels, once again slimmed down and clean-cut.

Working with the manic, inventive Carrey was a professional challenge. "Jim ad-libs, he's a hundred miles an hour, he's outrageous. To try to stay with him, you run the risk of being blown off the screen." He smiles. "But I hung with him, and that was the big victory."

Aside from wanting to work with Carrey and increase his bankability, Daniels also chose Dumb and Dumber to prove his versatility. The movie's comic style is very broad, unlike anything he had done before. He explains, "I'm showing (Hollywood) that I can also do this, after Speed and Gettysburg. It's just another quest to establish range."

With such vastly different films, Daniels hasn't had to worry much about typecasting, although a vaguely similar persona emerges in a few of his roles. He has often played essentially smart guys who nevertheless make a stupid, sometimes fatal error. In Speed, he was a bomb specialist undone by an even smarter Dennis Hopper. And in Terms of Endearment, he was a college professor whose affair with a co-ed destroyed his marriage.

Of that persona, he says, "It kind of follows you around. Once you get established in Hollywood, you're supposed to 'do that thing that America loves.'"

Daniels assumes the voice of a studio executive.

"'You know, do that thing that was so good in your last movie that made $100 million.' So you do it again and again and suddenly you're playing yourself."

If Daniels seems somewhat cynical about Hollywood, he maintains his distance by living in Michigan, where he has established a nonprofit theater company for which he currently writes and produces plays.

Surprisingly though, Daniels says he would give up the stage for the screen if forced to choose.

"I still like theater," he says. "But I love the time between 'Action' and 'Cut.'"

As to whether he has attained true movie star status, Daniels admits that his unconventional choices may have kept him from reaching the A-List.

"When people tell me, 'You have to do something in a particular way,' I say, 'No, I don't.'" Daniels seems content with his record. "I've broken the rules, I haven't followed the 'track to stardom.' It's cost me money, it's cost me a lot of things, but I'm still working."