By Christina Radish

In the Warner Bros. film Yes Man, based on the best-selling memoir by Scottish-born author Danny Wallace, Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) is a guy whose life is going nowhere, until he signs up for a self-help program based on one simple covenant: say “yes” to anything and everything. This former “No Man” soon finds himself saying yes to piloting a plane, playing guitar, learning Korean, driving a motorcycle and bungee jumping. Even though the power of yes gets Carl promoted at work and opens the door to a new romance with the quirky Allison (Zooey Deschanel), his willingness to embrace every opportunity might just become too much of a good thing.

Co-stars Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel spoke to MediaBlvd Magazine about how you have to take chances with life, in order to really live fully.                                                 

MediaBlvd Magazine> Jim, when you look back at your own life, have you been mostly a yes man or a no man, over the years?

Jim Carrey> I would say yes, even when I said no because sometimes saying no is saying yes to your own self-worth. I like to enjoy life. I like to engage in life, so I would say I’m a yes man. I’ve said yes to so many things, and it’s always paid off for me.

MediaBlvd> What’s the stupidest thing either of you have ever said yes to, that you’re willing to admit?

Jim> I was 11 years old and I joined Sea Cadets, which is like a military version of the Boy Scouts. They shave your head and humiliate you, and they yell at you and parade you around, in front of the rest of the people you know in the town. You parade around with a uniform on. But, if I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t know that I’m a useless maggot, so I’m glad. Saying yes always leads to something good. 

Zooey Deschanel> I accidentally entered a youth pageant when I was 14. That’s like a beauty pageant, but without the beauty. It was terrible. I thought it was a talent show. My choir teacher led me on. 

MediaBlvd> Jim, you’re normally a very positive guy. Was it hard to actually make fun of a philosophy you personally subscribe to?  

Jim> No, everything can be made fun of. The most serious things are ripe for making fun of them. I have spiritual beliefs, but I could literally go out and make an entire comedy routine about it, and tour as some sort of spiritual guru.

Zooey> Humor is a part of spirituality.

Jim> That is true. We must laugh at ourselves. I had no trouble at all. 

MediaBlvd> In retrospect, what did you think of the bungee jump? What was going on in your mind at the time, and what do you think about it now?

Jim> Death. Lots of death, and thoughts of crossing over were actually going through my mind. It was very strange. I thought, “Well, they do this all the time. This is no big deal. They’ve got this down. It’s no problem.” And then, I got to the bridge, and that was intense enough. I went, “Oh, my god, what have I done? What am I doing here?” But, when I got my feet up on the ledge, it literally was like a freight train going through my veins, through my entire body, the whole time, until I jumped. It was insane. It was unbelievable. I actually had post traumatic stress, after it. For about a week after, I dreamt of hitting the ground. It was amazing. Those people that do that all the time, they are addicted to some kind of adrenaline rush, like you would not believe. They just do not stop.

MediaBlvd> When you were swinging upside down, and you had to do the scene with the cell phone, was that all one jump or did you have to re-set for that?

Jim> No, I did it in one jump. I’m always trying to complicate things, for some reason. At the last second, I’ll go, “Well, maybe I can get that in.” I always make it really hard for myself. So, I had them make a little Styrofoam phone, so it wouldn’t hit me in the lip or something, and I put it in the pocket. They said, “You’'re not going to do the scene when you get to the bottom there,” and I said, “No, I’ll do the scene.” I gave it a shot, and I did it. Once I knew I was alive, I was fine.

MediaBlvd> Would you ever jump again?

Jim> No. I’ve done it, and crossed it off the list. They didn’t want me to do it at all and I said, “I’m going to do it once in my life, so you might as well get it on camera.” 

MediaBlvd> Zooey, the scenes at Spaceland were very cool. Were you consulted at all, in getting the indie rock scene in Los Angeles just right?

Zooey> It wasn’t so hard. I’m in a band myself, and I write music and go to see shows a lot, so it wasn’t really too much of stretch for me.

MediaBlvd> Was it fun writing the music for this film with girls, instead of with your band, She & Him. What was that new dynamic like?

Zooey> I usually write music alone, so it was fun to write with other people. All those girls are so great, and so talented, funny and smart. It was a fun process because we had a week to rehearse. Von Iva is the name of the band, so I just joined their band for a week and it was really fun.

Jim> She blew us away with that stuff. We weren’t expecting that. We were there on the set, and it was just like, “What?!” Fantastic, loved it.

MediaBlvd> Jim, you’ve done a few dark roles recently, but this is a throwback to the silly Jim Carrey comedies. How does it feel to be doing that kind of movie again?

Jim> I like doing everything. I love just being creative. Whatever way I have to do it, I just want to tell stories. It’s really the storytelling aspect that’s great, and it’s always fun. Ultimately, it’s not the money, and it’s certainly not the fame because that’s a pain in the ass. It’s really the person in the seat that you think about. When you sit in a room and write, and you do all the things you have to do, it really comes down to thinking about someone sitting in a seat, laughing.  When you do a movie like this, what really gets me off is the idea of people actually laughing and maybe having something to think about when they leave the theater.

MediaBlvd> Have you been where this character has been, at times in your life? Do you know where he’s coming from?

Jim> I go in and out of being a shut in. My social life goes in bursts, where I have to get out and do something, and I’ll go on a motorcycle trip down to Baja and I’ll hang out with my friends for like a month, and then they won’t see me for two or three months, and I won’t answer any calls.  I go back and forth, so it’s just a see-saw effect. I need both. I don’t think I’m ever going to have the kind of life or schedule where I can really have a steady way of doing things. Sometimes I get real busy and all I want to do is hide when I get home, and sometimes I’m not so busy and I want to reach out to friends and stuff. So, I definitely understand this character. It was my idea to do the dead guy on the couch. That’s my own way of looking at myself, sometimes -- dying alone.

MediaBlvd> Your character plays guitar and sings, pilots a plane and also speaks Korean fluently. How was the preparation for all of that, and did having to do any of them ever make you regret saying yes to this project?

Jim> I never said, “I regret doing this project.” Well, maybe there were a couple of moments. The Korean, I just picked up on the set, the day of. I just hung out with a couple of Korean people, and that was it. I just did it. No, actually it took about four weeks of studying it phonetically, every day. It was so difficult. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. I had a Korean coach who was literally afraid to go back to Korea, if I got it wrong. He was like, “Seriously, I will be hurt.” And so, I hope I got it right. He was on me pretty hard. It took awhile, but I’m really dedicated. 

MediaBlvd> Zooey, what was it like having to keep up with Jim’s energy, all the time?

Zooey> It’s so fun to work with Jim. The fun is very contagious. It was always delightful, and so amusing on set. It was wonderful. I’m a pretty energetic person myself, and I think it’s always good, in general, to have different energies, on screen. It’s nice to have different characters go at different speeds, just like different people work at different speeds.

 Jim> It was nice because she’s a completely different tone than me, so it was great. I thought our characters really worked well off each other. You also really believe the relationship. You really accept it and can see why they love each other. 

MediaBlvd> Did either of you ever give any thought to doing the roller-blading down the hill yourselves?

Zooey> Absolutely not!

Jim> I tried, man. I stood in the suit really well.

Zooey> Me, not so well.

Jim> I tried to get the one shot, where I’m leaving frame, and I first hit the deck. So, we did a shot where I went probably about 40 feet, and it was so terrifying. It was ridiculous and out of control. I don’t know how he did that. He’s unbelievable. I saw it on the Internet. That’s how it got in the movie. I was watching this rocket man, going down the French Alps at 70 mph, passing motorcycles, and things like that. People in cars were getting whiplash, as he would pass them. It was the coolest thing I ever saw. So I said, “We’ve got to do this!,” and it was so terrifying.

Zooey> Just to stand up on that hill on roller blades was terrifying. 

Jim> It’s just insane. Your chin is this close to the ground. It’s really hard not to want to break.

MediaBlvd> Jim, at the beginning, your character is really at a point where he says no to everything, due to his romantic failure and everything else that he feels complacent about. Why do you think he gets to that point? And, if you were to give advice to someone who was at that point, what would you tell them to do?

Jim> Eat a ton of sweets and then take your life. No, let’s go with option two. I would say, “Hang in there, and invite some people over.” My concept is that the devil works for God. The bad times are supposed to force you into actually getting out of your shell and going out into the world, and making friendships and having love. Those times in your life force you to become a better person. 

MediaBlvd> With the current recession that we’re in, how do you get people to give up their money to see this film?

Jim> I believe that they can create their reality and, that weekend, they’re going to go, “You know what? There is no recession. There is no problem. I’m going to spend my money. I’m going to go to the theater and then walk out with a smile on my face,  and say yes to life, as is.”

MediaBlvd> Do you think this current financial climate is a good time to make comedies?

Jim> That’s what comedy is about -- to laugh at the pain and confusion. You need it. Comedy is always welcome, but especially in times like this. You want to have something positive happen in your life, and this is it. 

Zooey> Personally, I think the best comedies came out during the depression.

MediaBlvd> Jim, a lot of your movies have really great messages. What do you want people to walk away with, after seeing this movie?

Jim> Mostly, just to have a good laugh, and to feel good in their heart. It’s not only a funny movie, but you really believe the love story and the friendships, so there’s a lot to walk away with. If there is a message, it’s just to engage in life. If you say yes more than you say no, or maybe a little bit more than you did before, life turns out all right. Usually, you regret the things you say no to.