LOS ANGELES -- If someone wanted you to jump off a bridge, would you say yes?

Jim Carrey did just that for a scene in which his Yes Man character goes bungee jumping.

What was he thinking prior to the plunge?

"A lot of thoughts of death," he remembers.

"Thoughts of crossing over were actually going through my mind. It was very strange."

In fact, the filmmakers expressed doubts about whether Carrey should perform the stunt himself, but he reasoned it was something he was going to do once in his life anyway, so they may as well get it on camera.

"When I got my feet up on the ledge, it was literally like a freight train going through my veins ... It was unbelievable."

More impressively, he continued to perform the scene in character, taking a cellphone call while hanging upside down.

The phone was actually Styrofoam, but that is Carrey delivering his dialogue.

"I actually had post-traumatic stress afterwards. For about a week after, I dreamt of hitting the ground."

Still, while Carrey survived the jump, he didn't escape the production entirely unscathed.

Shooting another unrelated scene in which he falls over backwards, he broke three ribs.