Jim Carrey Explains Batman Forever Feud With Tommy Lee Jones

Jim Carrey may have spent most of his time in Batman Forever cackling maniacally as the Riddler, but apparently no laughs were had behind the scenes. In the past, the actor has indicated that he and co-star Tommy Lee Jones, who played the nefarious Two-Face in the superhero flick, clashed in quite a big way. Now, speaking during an appearance on Norm Macdonald Live, Carrey discussed the feud in more detail. 

"I was the star, and that was the problem," Carrey began before diving into the moment that ignited the tension. As the actor recalled, he met with Jones at a restaurant before they filmed a major Batman Forever scene together, and upon that initial meeting, Jones expressed his disdain for Carrey. 

"I went over and said, 'Hey, Tommy, how you doing?' And the blood just drained from his face like he had been thinking about me 24 hours a day. It was before the biggest scene we have together in the movie. The blood just drained from his face," Carrey remembered. "He started shaking and he got up and... he must have been in mid-kill-me fantasy or something. He went to hug me and said, 'I hate you. I really don't like you.' I said, 'Gee man, what's the problem?' I pulled up a chair, which probably wasn't smart. And he said, 'I cannot sanction your buffoonery.'"

Carrey then suggested that the issue might not have been him alone, that perhaps Jones wasn't comfortable with his lack of familiarity working in a comic book movie. "He might have been uncomfortable doing that work, too," he said. "That's not really his style of stuff."

While some Batman Forever and Jim Carrey fans may only be hearing this for the first time, this isn't the only instance in which the actor has discussed his feud with Jones. He previously told the story to Howard Stern in 2014 (via Yahoo! Movies), adding that he was "really looking forward to working with Tommy, because he's a fantastic actor, and he still is" to Carrey.

It's difficult to say whether the Carrey-Jones rivalry played a major role in the many issues with Batman Forever, as director Joel Schumacher's filmmaking decisions still seem to be the primary source of blame in that regard, only further proven by his inability to ease fans' worries with the ridiculous Batman & Robin. 

In any case, Carrey stated he thinks Jones is a "phenomenal actor" and "still loves him" despite their white-knuckled Batman Forever rivalry. If only all on-set feuds had that kind of outcome.