Jim Carrey and Oprah

When Jim Carrey's here, anything goes!

Jim: That's never ever been done. Never been done on television!

Oprah: Can you have peaceful times? Can you rest?

Jim: I do. I'm a totally peaceful person. I really am. So when people come up to me in the street and I grab them and kiss them and lick them, it's just because I love them.
New U.S. citizen, Jim Carrey

Since he was last on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Jim's become a U.S. citizen! What else is new?

Oprah: Is it true you're on a real health kick now?

Jim: You know, I live a monastic lifestyle. No, I do. I do live in extremes, basically. I go back and forth. Once every six months, I'll have a day where I eat more chocolate than has ever been consumed by a human being.
Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep and Oprah

For the first time, Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep are teaming up to star in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. So what was it like for a critically acclaimed actress like Meryl Streep to work with a comedic genius like Jim Carrey?

Meryl: Well, you just try to swim as fast as you can to keep up. I mean, it's wild. And, you know, [there are] no stimulants. Don't need coffee. Don't eat anything. Just go to the set and plug in to Jim.

Jim: She loves to play, which is great. That's the thing about her. I was so excited about the fact that she comes [to the set] like a kid to the sandbox.
Meryl Streep and Oprah

Meryl Streep holds the record for Oscar® nominations with 13, most recently for her role in 2003's Adaptation. Additionally, the American Film Institute honored her with a prestigious Life Achievement Award, and Jim Carrey was the emcee.

Meryl says the ceremony made her feel she was having an out-of-body experience. "It felt like I was watching it from 500 feet up, like my death," she says. "It was like my wedding—I kind of was there and kind of not, you know what I mean? You're so worried about so many things, mostly having to do with the dress and the hair...and then that all went to hell anyway."
Meryl Streep

In Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Meryl adds the peculiar and phobic Aunt Josephine to her repertoire of leading ladies. Does Meryl have a favorite movie of her own?

"No, I don't," Meryl says. "I can't, I can't. There's some I like less than others...but I don't really have a favorite. I have ones I love for weird reasons like, you know, I got pregnant on the set or something. You know, during Silkwood I got pregnant with Mamie."
Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep

Meryl and Jim agree that while they love acting, they aren't particularly fond of "the red carpet."

Meryl: My mother used to say, "People would give their right arm [to be on the red carpet.] Stop whining." But there are some people that are cut out for it and for the "swanning." And I'm not. I'm a crankier kind of creature.

Jim: I like it, at times. You know, as I said, before I do it, generally, I'm in a funk. Like, going, "I've got a lot to do. I've got a lot ahead of me. I have to stand up and be something." The hardest part about show business is acting off camera.
Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey says he had a great time playing multiple characters in the Lemony Snicket movie—one in particular.

"I really kind of loved Stephano," Jim says. "I mean, I loved all of them, but Stephano was just kind of a magical creation. He was the guy who thinks everyone tells him he looks like Antonio Banderas."
Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep, Liam Aiken and Oprah

Young Liam Aiken, who plays Klaus Baudelaire in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, may only be 15, but he has quite a résumé. He's appeared in movies like Road to Perdition, Good Boy and Stepmom.

Oprah: I heard you did all sorts of things to try to keep from laughing when doing scenes with Jim.

Liam: Oh, yeah, definitely. It was so hard not to laugh, because it was a different take every time. You know, something different came out of every one.