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Actor William McNamara is looking back on one of his earliest Hollywood memories — in which he underestimated a then unknown co-star
In a new podcast interview, McNamara recounted his time filming the 1992 TV movie Doing Time on Maple Drive
The cast included a then-unknown actor named Jim Carrey, who McNamara initially thought was “a loser”
Actor ≈ is looking back on one of his earliest Hollywood memories — in which he underestimated a co-star.
While filming the 1992 TV movie Doing Time on Maple Drive, McNamara, now 61, found himself sharing the set with a then-unknown comedian: Jim Carrey. But at their first meeting, McNamara admits he didn’t see star potential.
In an interview on the Media Path podcast, McNamara shared that, at the read-through for the movie, he was surrounded by other actors, most of them “all really established, good and well-dressed — and this guy comes in late — tall, gangly, thin guy with messy hair wearing a beat-up black t-shirt and torn black jeans and Keds.”
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Doing Time on Maple Drive David Byron, Jayne Brook, Bibi Besch, Lori Loughlin, William McNamara, James Sikking, Jim Carrey
Credit: Century Fox Film Corp./courtesy Everett Collection
“He came in and right away I was depressed,” he added. “I’m like, god. I thought we’re gonna have a great cast except for this one loser. I didn’t know he was.”
The feeling only deepened during the table read, with McNamara sharing that he initially felt Carrey was “not good.”
Off-camera, McNamara even tried to keep his distance during rehearsals, including during a cast bonding tennis session.
Carrey, however, had other plans—approaching McNamara for advice and eager to learn.
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After Carrey “globbed on” to him, the two went to lunch, and McNamara realized he had completely misjudged his co-star.
“I’m sitting there, and he’s sitting there, and people are looking over the table. And I’m like, ‘Oh, wow.’ And people are starting to get up, and I see them like going over and getting like paper and pencils from the waitress,” McNamara explained. “And I say to Jim, ‘These people … they’re gonna get my autograph, they’re gonna line up and get my autograph.”
He continued: “But I see the people getting ready and they start lining up like an autograph convention [and] they’re like ‘Jim, Jim’ and I’m like ‘Jim?’ “
That’s when McNamara realized the crowd wasn’t there for him—they were there for Carrey, who had already gained recognition from In Living Color.
“So at this point I’m like, ‘Okay, this guy is somebody famous… there was 20 people that wanted his, not one person knew who I was,” he added.
From that moment on, McNamara’s perspective shifted, adding that he and Carrey then “started hanging out,” and he realized he was “going to be a superstar” when the comedian made a speech during the first day on set, telling the cast and crew, “Listen: I’m not a great dramatic actor, and I know that. And I’m gonna try really, really hard to be good. I wanna be good … If you think I’m doing a lousy job, or anything I do wrong and you have advice, just come right up to me and tell me, ‘Jim, you’re not good, do something different.’ “
“I was just like, wow this guy is crazy but in those 20 days he became a phenomenal actor,” McNamara added of Carrey who did indeed go on to become a superstar, with credits such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask and The Truman Show—the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe Award, which he also won for 1999 biopic Man on the Moon.
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