Jim Carrey looks back on Andy Kaufman role in new Netflix documentary

Actors going “method” to get super into their movie roles are all the rage these days. But even Leonardo DiCaprio eating actual bison liver on the set of The Revenant and Jared Leto acting blind for Blade Runner 2049 cannot compare to the extent Jim Carrey “became” Andy Kaufman for his starring role in the 1999 biopic Man on the Moon. Kaufman, the trailblazing comedian perhaps best known for his role as Latka Gravas on Taxi, was famous for blending his comedic act with real life in order to constantly surprise and provoke his audience (for instance, he sometimes had other people perform his Tony Clifton lounge singer character). So while playing Kaufman, Carrey tried to imitate his hero’s reality-bending style, carrying on his Kaufman impression even when the cameras weren’t rolling.

Behind-the-scenes footage from the set of Man on the Moon will be available for the first time in Chris Smith’s new documentary Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond — Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton. EW can exclusively debut the trailer for Jim & Andy, which hits Netflix next month and features Carrey in the present day looking back on his time on the film. In the trailer, Carrey notes how Universal originally didn’t want the making-of footage (much of it shot by Kaufman’s former girlfriend Lynne Margulies) to surface lest people “think I was an a–hole.” The distance of 18 years now allows Carrey and others to look back on the experience without such worries, while also giving Carrey the chance to reflect on the scope of his own comedic career.

Watch the trailer below, which of course features R.E.M.’s song “Man on the Moon,” written as a tribute to Kaufman (and the source of the biopic’s title). Jim & Andy hits Netflix Nov. 17.