FILM · 1997 · USA
Liar Liar
42 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (42)
- #001
According to an interview with Jim Carrey, the joke in which Fletcher chases his son as "The Claw" was something Carrey's father did to him and his siblings.
- #002
No sound effects were used when Fletcher beats himself up in the bathroom; the sounds are actually those of Jim Carrey's head hitting the urinal, the floor and the walls.
- #003
When Fletcher has a pen fight in his office, he emerges from behind the desk with the word "Blue" written all over his face. On his left cheek, among all the blues, is written "B. B. King."
- #004
Jim Carrey turned down the role of Dr. Evil in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), which allowed him to commit to this film and also spared him from having to lose his hair, wear makeup and make eye contact for a role.
- #005
Jim Carrey was so caught up in his character that he said he came home completely exhausted.
- #006
In the scene where Fletcher is on a stretcher, Jim Carrey is playing his Fire Marshall Bill character from In Living Color (1990). Fire Marshall Bill can be seen talking on a radio in the crowd.
- #007
The script was not always about a lawyer. Fletcher was almost a politician or a real estate agent.
- #008
The script was rejected nine times before producer Brian Grazer bought it. Before buying the idea, he had heard only two sentences about the film.
- #009
The producers did research to make sure Fletcher's closing argument would hold up in court. Co-writer Stephen Mazur is also a lawyer.
- #010
The film is dedicated to Jason Bernard, who played his final role in this film and died of a heart attack on 16 October 1996, the day shooting ended.
- #011
Jim Carrey agreed to make the film after reading the script; he was happy to play a character who was a normal person, because he did not have to change his hair or wear makeup for the role.
- #012
Steve Martin's attachment to the film was quite different in many respects. Martin's version of Fletcher Reede would already have been successful in his career, would still be married (but in a bad marriage) and would have more than one child. When Jim Carrey was cast in the role, the elements were adjusted to suit his age better (Fletcher Reede is rising in his career, divorced and has one child).
- #013
Jim Carrey came up with the idea for the closing scene. He woke Tom Shadyac at midnight to tell him about it.
- #014
At the beginning of the film, as Fletcher Reede (Jim Carrey) leaves the courthouse, Chris Darden, the lawyer who in real life prosecuted O. J. Simpson, asks him, "Hey Fletcher! How'd things go in there?" Fletcher replies, "Another victory for the wrongly accused!" and Darden comments, "Come on!" — a sarcastic reference to O. J. Simpson. Simpson had been wrongly accused of the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson.
- #015
When Max asks his father, "If I keep making this face, will it stay like that?" Fletcher replies, "No. Actually, some people make a good living that way." This is a joking reference to Jim Carrey's own career.
- #016
In the scene where Fletcher comes to Audrey's house after his car is confiscated, Jim Carrey was not supposed to trip while running toward the house. They were going to reshoot it, but he said it was more fitting for Fletcher to trip over himself while going crazy.
- #017
Tom Shadyac said that he and Jim Carrey "wanted to make a film without farting" but that they "just couldn't mature that fast."
- #018
Tom Shadyac and Jim Carrey saw the film as a transition toward more realistic comedies in their careers.
- #019
Jennifer Tilly described her character as "a Beverly Hills socialite. Her idea of lifting weights is wearing really heavy bracelets."
- #020
This was Don Keefer's final acting role before his death on 7 September 2014 at the age of 98.
- #021
The producers cast Maura Tierney because she was "so balancing for Jim [Carrey]."
- #022
The filmmakers chose not to explain how or why the wish comes true.
- #023
Steve Martin turned down the lead role in this film because of a scheduling conflict with another film, Sgt. Bilko (1996). Martin had also previously turned down another lead role that Jim Carrey would take on: the part of Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber (1994).
- #024
Jim Carrey was paid $20 million for this film.
- #025
Cary Elwes bought inspirational self-help books from SkyMall to get into character.
- #026
After his roles in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), The Mask (1994), Dumb and Dumber (1994), Batman Forever (1995), Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) and The Cable Guy (1996), this was the first film in which Jim Carrey enjoyed having his own hairstyle and not wearing makeup.
- #027
The filmmakers were influenced by Big (1988), another popular film about a child's wish coming true.
- #028
The film was rewritten by Judd Apatow, who is not credited in the titles.
- #029
Unlike their characters on screen, Jim Carrey and Cary Elwes are actually good friends in real life and were even together at Jim Carrey's famous 62nd birthday party in 2024.
- #030
During the first take of Fletcher's encounter with the beggar, to the great amusement of Jim Carrey and the crew, Don Keefer accidentally shouted "fuck off!" at the end of the scene instead of "jerkoff." Director Tom Shadyac said they would have used that take if it had not earned the film an R rating.
- #031
The Mercedes Fletcher drives never had a glove compartment because of space limitations. The shot involving the glove compartment (where Fletcher reluctantly explains his unpaid parking tickets to the police) used a different model.
- #032
The case Greta mentions concerning her friend and the burglar is based on Bodine vs Enterprise High School, in which former student Rick Earl Bodine broke into the school around 1:00 a.m. on March 1, 1982, to steal spotlights from the roof. After removing the first and going for the second, he fell through a 27-foot skylight, causing brain damage that initially left Bodine mute and paralyzed. The state declined to prosecute Bodine, considering the injuries punishment enough. However, Bodine's lawyer sued the school district and won the case for $260,000 up front plus $1,500 a month for the rest of Bodine's life.
- #033
Some fans pointed out that Mrs. Cole does not swear here, but Tom Shadyac said they cut it to speed up the film.
- #034
Jim Carrey, a divorced father, jokingly applauds Fletcher Reede's calm at the end of the airport scene, and also jokes that if he were in that situation he would do much worse to keep his ex-wife from taking his daughter away from him.
- #035
Fletcher's "… ridden more than Seattle Slew…" line refers to an American Thoroughbred racehorse that, as of September 2021, was only the tenth of a total of thirteen horses to win the "Triple Crown." Seattle Slew achieved the feat in 1977. The horse was still alive when the film was released, but died in 2002.
- #036
Although Robin Williams turned down the role of Fletcher Reede (which ultimately went to Jim Carrey), he eventually worked the following year with this film's director, Tom Shadyac, on Patch Adams (1998), which also proved a box-office success for Universal Studios, the studio that released this film.
- #037
The actor who played "Gruff Man" in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) appears at the beginning of the film as Fletcher enters the courthouse and asks whether he wants his coat back.
- #038
The part where Fletcher Reede looks at the woman in the elevator and shouts "Mama!" before sucking was improvised by Jim Carrey.
- #039
The original screenplay by Paul Guay and Stephen Mazur was rewritten from scratch by director Tom Shadyac and Mike Binder, with further rewrites by Steve Oedekerk during shooting. Although the basic concept of a man who cannot lie for 24 hours and must rebuild his relationship with his young son was kept from Guay and Mazur's draft, almost everything else was discarded.
- #040
In an interview, Jennifer Tilly noted that she was honored to work with Jim Carrey.
- #041
At one point during development, the screenplay was adapted at Disney for Goldie Hawn in the role that ultimately went to Jim Carrey.
- #042
The acoustic pop artists Jars of Clay wrote a song titled "Five Candles" intended to play over the film's end title sequence. However, when the producers decided to include the exit montage at the end, the song was not used.
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