Tue, 27 Jun 2000 07:19:15 EDT

by Veronica Mixon

"Honestly, I have to say I have the best job. I'm fascinated with human behavior and why it happens," explained Carrey as he spoke about his second film with the Farrellys. "The scenes are wild but it's very rare that I get to a place where I'm kind of humiliated."

Carrey plays Charlie, a Maine State trooper whose beloved wife dumps him for a black dwarf and leaves him with three sons who are obviously not his. "Charlie is like every man in my family," laughs Carrey. "The guy who smiles as you give him a horrible comment. He'll go - just happy to be alive."

Why are Canadians so funny? "Repression. We're slightly English in our influence and that rubs off. It's where Monty Python came from - don't embarrass us. When people go out, they go out far. It's a wonderful thing to watch."

The 38-year-old comedian was born in Newmarket, Ontario and left school half way through the tenth grade. "But I kept on reading and schooled myself. Plus I dealt with drunks for 15 years in comedy clubs and that's a Ph.D. of some kind." It was a natural step to come to the States and work in Hollywood.

American audience first noticed him on Keenyan Ivory Wayans weekly TV show, "In Loving Color"as the white boy who could hold his own with the zany antics of the outrageous urban black comic and his horde of family. Meanwhile, he had a small part as a drug-out actor in Clint Eastwood's "The Dead Pool"that proved to be memorable and began to earnestly pursue movies.

In 1994, Carrey exploded - first in "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,"the icky kid-friendly comedy and then the awesome special-effects masterpiece, "The Mask"opposite Cameron Diaz. It was the first time he played a dual role of repressed nice guy and brazen ladies man. The Farrelly brothers' " Dumb & Dumber" confirmed his wickedly funny genius at creating men who do things we've all thought of doing. Carrey's other films include "Batman Forever," "The Cable Guy," "Liar, Liar," "The Truman Show"and "Man on the Moon," the Andy Kaufman biopic. "The drama is rubbing off on the comedy and the comedy is rubbing off on the drama.

"For me, working with the Farrelly brothers was a breath of fresh air after doing two serious films back to back. I had a great time working with them the first time. I knew I was going to have a good time, again and have a lot of laughs - you know, lose a few quarters against the wall. Those guys are wonderful people. They are connected to everyone they've ever known. Me - I just want love!"

Actually, Jim Carrey did find love on the set of his latest film with co-star, Rene Zelwiger, of "Jerry Maquire"fame. "I don't go out to these things saying I'm going to get this one! That's not how I operate," he says, almost shyly. "I will say we had the most wonderful old-fashioned, something you don't think happens anymore type of courtship of all time. I think she's a gem of a human being and one of the best actresses I've ever seen in my life. That's why I wanted her in the movie in the first place - not to go after her - but to be supported by somebody who I could learn something from and trust her to be able to stand on her on."

Clearly, Jim Carrey is a very happy man. Even nagging questions about whether critics or Academy Award voters take him seriously doesn't bother him because he knows that he's in the forefront of comedy in the new millenium. "I think it's going to be more and more brutal - for anyone. Comedy always reflects what is going on in society, what we have to deal with. People always talks about movies desensitizing people but I think society desensitizes movies. In this movie, there is a very good heart. I think it nails all the things that we all do and we talk about but nobody has the guts to show."