NEW YORK -- Jim Carrey: down-to-earth boyfriend and father who doesn't moan about fame, likes doing laundry and has a philosophical outlook on the future of comedy?

Ha ha! Go on, pull the other one!

Seriously. The man who made talking out of his butt a cultural touchstone is a supremely happy camper these days, bathing in the contentment of a new love, more time with his daughter and what's sure to be a box-office boomer in the form of Me, Myself and Irene, opening in theatres Friday. What more could a guy want?

Well, nothing, really. Sure, the stamp of Oscar approval from the Academy continues to elude Carrey (the reason: "They're bastards!" he concludes, then adds: "OK. Now, please say, 'Jim Carrey is being facetious.' ") But those $20 million US paycheques probably take away some of the sting.

At a press conference last weekend in the bowels of a Manhattan hotel, the 38-year-old Canadian-born comic either proved that he is a fine actor indeed, or that he really is in a pretty darn good mood these days. The latter is probably true, his new romance with Me, Myself and Irene co-star Renee Zellweger combined with a gravity-defying career.

"I honestly have to say, I have the best job," Carrey said. "Because I'm fascinated with human behaviour. It's like being a psychiatrist, or some kind of scientist."

Carrey has experimented a whole lot with his own career over the last few years, balancing comedies like The Cable Guy and Liar, Liar with dramatic turns in The Truman Show and the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon. After the Farrelly brothers gross-fest Me, Myself and Irene, he'll be seen in greenface as the title character in Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and in Phone Booth, an upcoming indie thriller that's slated to be shot over a period of just two weeks.

The work, Carrey says, "is growing, it's getting deeper and more involved psychologically. The drama is rubbing off on the comedy and the comedy is rubbing off on the drama."

In Me, Myself and Irene, though, Carrey returns to familiar territory with the Farrellys, who helped launch him to stardom in Dumb & Dumber. This time around, he plays a state trooper with a Jekyll and Hyde split personality. Each half falls for Irene (Zellweger), which makes for a two-person love triangle.

"I had such a great experience the first time, I knew I was going to have a good time and a lot of laughs," Carrey said of re-teaming with the Farrellys. "Those guys are wonderful people, they're amazing guys. They're connected to everyone they've ever known in their lives. "Me ..." he deadpanned, "... I've cut everyone off."

Keeping with the whole experimentation and risk theme (or maybe simply taking a cue from M:I-2's Tom Cruise), Carrey said he wanted to do his own stunts for the film, including one in which Zellweger kicks him over a railing and down a steep, grassy hill.

"I don't like the stuntman to do it unless it's life-threatening in some way. If it means a bruise or a bang or possibly a sprained ankle if you do it wrong, I'd rather do it myself." (True to his word, Carrey did sprain his ankle rehearsing the scene, but that didn't stop him from doing the final take for the camera.)

But there are downsides to every up. Whether it's supermarket tabloid gossip or the crush of adoration, fame is an ever-present issue that Carrey seems to manage well.

"I see people with grins on their faces when they walk up to me. It's an amazing feeling." With a price, of course: "I literally have had people tell me to wait somewhere while they drive home and get their kids."

His amicable relationship with first wife Melissa Womer (he was later married to actress Lauren Holly for a year) means he enjoys a greater presence in his 13-year-old daughter Jane Carrey's life these days, including such mundane-seeming dad tasks as taking her to school.

In fact, Carrey says he even enjoys the simple sense of domestic satisfaction that comes with housework, whether it's tidying a room or doing laundry.

"When I first got famous, I bought into the idea that you should hire people to do everything, because you can. I wanted to be Bruce Wayne or something," Carrey said.

"Eventually I just realized I gotta wash my own cape."


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