In the new family comedy "Mr. Popper's Penguins," Jim Carrey plays a middle-aged divorcé who is so focused on his business that he loses sight of the meaningful things in life (that is, until he inherits six penguins that show him the way, natch).
It is a very adult role for an A-list Hollywood goofball who is still fondly remembered for talking with his butt cheeks in "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." Years before that '90s hit made him a household name though, the Canadian actor/comedian was just a regular high school virgin being stalked by a 400-year-old supermodel vampire.
Rather, he was playing a regular high school virgin being stalked by a 400-year-old supermodel vampire in the comedy "Once Bitten," alongside Lauren Hutton.
Five years before scoring a TV gig on "In Living Color," the actor moved from Toronto to Los Angeles, worked the stand-up circuit and started auditioning for Hollywood films. One successful audition earned him his first leading part in the forgettable 1985 comedy "Once Bitten."
Unlike the wacky characters on which he would build a career, Carrey played a wholesome high school student who is torn between his straight-laced girlfriend and a centuries-old vampire (Lauren Hutton) disguised as a gorgeous blonde countess. A fight with the girlfriend leads to a moment of weakness with the vampire, who bites him once (hence the title) after a hilariously "hot" evening at a night club. Over the course of a few days, Carrey's character starts exhibiting strange, vampire-like behavior to the concern of his girlfriend and the pleasure of his supermodel seductress. Eventually, as all vampire/mortal love triangles do, this one reaches a fever pitch during an amazing dance-off sequence at the high school's Halloween dance.
Watch as Hutton's vampire and Carrey's onscreen flame dance battle onscreen for the actor's ghoulish attention to the tune of Maria Vidal's "Hand's Off!" While the ladies get most of the sweet choreographed moves, it is already evident that the actor is a gifted physical comedian.
After "Once Bitten" and another nine long years worth of bit film parts (including one in Francis Ford Coppola's "Peggy Sue Got Married"), Carrey landed the pivotal role of "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." Even in this early Carrey clip, it is easy to see a star already being born...on the dance floor.
Now if only we can get "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn" to add an extended dance sequence...
