JIM CARREY’s BELIEF IN SELF

“For years, I lived in a van with my family…
But in my mind, I was already a star.”
Because poverty can empty your pockets — but never your imagination.

My dad was a musician who gave up his dream for a “safe” job.
They fired him anyway.
And just like that, everything collapsed.
We lost our home…
and ended up living in a Volkswagen van, parked in lots and open fields.

I was 15 and already knew what it meant to see my mom sick…
and my dad broken.
Sometimes, all we had to survive the day… was laughter.

I started working as a janitor at a factory,
all the while dreaming of making the world laugh.
The road was brutal.
Audition after audition, they said I was “too weird.”
I battled anxiety, depression.
But I kept writing, kept practicing in front of the mirror, kept believing.

One day, I wrote myself a fake check for $10 million and kept it in my wallet.
A promise to myself.
Years later, I got paid exactly that for Dumb and Dumber.

The hardest part? Losing my dad just as my dreams were coming true.
He was my biggest fan — the one who drove me to every show when no one else would.
But he left me with a lesson I’ll carry forever:
Don’t give up on what you love just because you’re scared to fail.
Even the “safe” path can collapse beneath your feet. ??

Laughter saved me…
But pain was my teacher.
Because sometimes, the people who make us laugh the hardest…
are the ones who’ve cried the most in silence.

— Jim Carrey