(Credits Far Out / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy)
Sat 11 October 2025 16:15, UK
Any comedic actor who finds mainstream fame by either playing multiple roles in the same movie or gaining superstardom through physical pratfalling and constant mugging will inevitably be dubbed the second coming of Peter Sellers, something Jim Carrey knows fine well.
He’d already been mentioned in the same breath several times after his rubber-faced antics strapped a rocket to his back in 1994, and they weighed heavier than ever when he headlined 2004’s Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events as Count Olaf. The role required him to sport prosthetics and wear several disguises, so it was easy to see why Sellers’ name was invoked.
Robin Williams cited the Dr Strangelove star as one of his biggest influences and cherished Stanley Kubrick’s timeless farce as one of his all-time favourite movies, and nobody was shocked to discover that Mike Myers held him in similar esteem, what with the Wayne’s World and Austin Powers frontman hardly shying away from taking on several parts in a project he’d originated himself.
Even Eddie Murphy, who made it part of his signature schtick, will be channelling Sellers’ spirit when he plays Inspector Clouseau in the next Pink Panther reinvention. All of those actors were among the biggest and highest-paid names of their era, but Carrey’s candidate for the legendary comic’s heir apparent hasn’t quite managed to join them.
That doesn’t make him any less successful, though, with Rhys Darby making his feature debut in Carrey’s 2008 vehicle, Yes Man, a year after Flight of the Conchords had made the jump from radio to television. Speaking to Indie London, the leading man couldn’t speak highly enough of the big-screen debutant, going to bat for him by comparing him to one of the best ever.
“He’s just absolutely brilliant,” Carrey said. “He’s got that Peter Sellers madness inside him, and it just worked out so perfectly because my character is broken and doesn’t want to be involved with anybody, and doesn’t want to be seen by anybody. And this character, played by Rhys Darby, is so full of love and so wants to be my friend that it becomes incredibly painful for me. Rhys was just genius at it, it was great.”
Yes Man hardly ranks as one of the actor’s finest hours in front of the camera, and Darby was equal parts thrilled and daunted. Ironically, he referred to Carrey and Sellers as “both of my comic heroes,” and one of them saying he was the heir apparent to the other must have been a pinch-me moment for a comedian who’d never even been in a movie before.
Then again, Darby did add that when it comes to Sellers, “nobody has been able to match his comic acting skills,” but there’s no harm in trying. He never set out to imitate or emulate him, not that anybody could if they tried, but the New Zealander has still managed to carve out a niche that’s made him a hugely popular actor and comedian in his own right.
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