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Jim Carrey went to Whoville.
"Playing the Grinch was a real lesson in zen," says Carrey, who stars as the green meanie in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, opening Friday.
Five-time Academy Award-winner Rick Baker created the makeup and suit that turned the rubber-faced, elastic-bodied comedian into one of the most famous and most beloved holiday characters.
"By the time Rick and his people got through with me every day there was no Carrey skin to be had," says Carrey. "Literally every part of me was covered. It was impossible even for me to scratch my nose."
Worst of all were the yellow-tinted contact lenses he wore to give him the eeriest of possible looks.
The Whoville set was covered with imitation snow made from a special paper and the dust easily and quickly found its way under the lenses.
"I learned a great deal about pain deferment. If one part of my body got very itchy or sore, I'd punch myself in the leg.
"After a couple of weeks, I was able to transcend it. It's amazing what humans can get used to. We CAN live on Mars."
The decision to put Carrey into a full bodysuit was not reached easily.
Baker recalls that initially Carrey and director Ron Howard resisted the idea.
"Because of the illustrations in the Seuss books and Chuck Jones' design for the TV special that runs every year, the look of the Grinch is burned into our mass imagination," says Baker.
"When Ron and Jim saw my sketches and then the first suits, they both balked.
"Ron kept saying he wanted to see more of Jim. He even suggested maybe we should just paint Jim green and let him make faces."
The tide turned when Carrey visited Baker's offices and saw a series of photos Baker had taken of himself in the Grinch suit and makeup.
"Jim thought I looked really cool. He told me to make him look the same no matter what. That was the day our Grinch was born."
Carrey says he could not and would not have done How the Grinch Stole Christmas without Howard and Baker.
"Both Ron and Rick are children. In this business it's hard to find people who are able to dance with their inner child without the help of stimulants.
"They are both the sweetest guys you ever want to meet. They just want to play on screen and take the world with them.
"That's all I've ever wanted to do. Just take everybody with me and get lost for a couple of hours."
As the tour guide on How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Carrey wants audiences to be stirred by the power of Christmas itself.
"For me, The Grinch has always been about change of heart. The most surly human being can be broken by Christmas.
"Wars stop at Christmas. That says something.
"The Grinch is not a person who is hopeless. He is someone living outside the world, but wanting to get in and that entrance is made possible by a child.
"That's something we can all benefit by learning or remembering."
There have been suggestions that Carrey's Grinch might prove too frightening for young children.
Carrey scoffs at the idea.
"I've sat with my (13-year-old) daughter and watched movies that are truly frightening. She knows it's only a movie.
"Kids will see more immediately than some adults that the Grinch is essentially a good person. It's just his heart has shrunk from lack of love and loving.
"He's a lonely, disenfranchised guy. And he's funny. I think kids are going to like him. They're going to identify with him.
"I identified with the Grinch when I was growing up. I used to scrunch up my face so I'd look like him."
Carrey's co-stars in Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas include a dog and Taylor Momsen, a six-year-old girl.
That's enough to have that cantankerous curmudgeon W.C. Fields tossing in his grave.
Not Carrey.
"Taylor was wonderful. It's really tough to be a kid in Hollywood, but she comes from a great family environment.
"I don't resent kids on a movie set for a minute. I had a wonderful time with little Justin (Cooper) on Liar, Liar. You just have to let them be children and not insist they be miniature people."
Carrey points out it took three dogs to portray the Grinch's faithful canine Max.
"Each dog had a specialty and all three of them had been saved from the pound.
"Now there's a movie in there somewhere. Dogs saved from the pound become superstars. It's a bit like what happened to me."
Carrey says he gained great respect for animal actors whether they are pros or amateurs.
"Our sets were insane.
"There were all those lights, people, fans blowing, fake snow in your face and so very much going on technically.
"It's tough to stick an actor in the middle of that let alone an animal. There were trainers hanging from ceilings yelling for the dogs to look in certain directions, touch their nose or ear with a paw."
One of the real perks for Carrey on the film was recording the theme song with rapper Busta Rhymes.
"It was not the experience I thought it was going to be.
"Hey I'm from Toronto so I have a pretty good groove going and Busta was all around it with the rhythm.
"The best part was that my daughter was with me. She connects so much with the hip hop world.
"Seeing me rappin' with Busta was the first time she thought dad was really cool."