Jim Carrey encouraged graduates Saturday at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, to do what they loved, citing his father, Percy Carrey, as an example.
“My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn’t believe that that was possible for him, and so he made a conservative choice,” Carrey told the group.
“Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant. When I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job, and our family had to do whatever we could to survive. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you could fail at what you don’t love, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”
Carrey joked about the future of the class of 2014: “No doubt some of you will turn out to be crooks, white collar stuff, Wall Street, that type of thing. Crimes committed by people with self-esteem, stuff parents can still be proud of.”