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 "It was an intervention," said the actor, who had a
reputation for serious roles in successful films, of the failed
attempt two decades ago to prevent him from doing low-brow
comedy "Dumb and Dumber" with two rookie directors.
"We're going to stop this. You're not going to do this movie,
and we're going to keep you on the Oscar trail," Daniels, 59,
remembered his agents saying. They could not foresee that his
role as the dimwitted, unemployed dog groomer Harry would become
one of his most well-known characters and box office successes.
Daniels reprises that role, reputation intact, in "Dumb and
Dumber To" - with a misspelled number - alongside Jim Carrey,
whose performance as Harry's equally dense and foolish best
friend Lloyd Christmas established the comedian as one of
Hollywood's leading stars.
The gross-out adventure comedy from brothers Bobby and Peter
Farrelly will debut in U.S. theaters on Friday and begins with
Harry, 20 years older but just as stupid, needing a kidney
transplant but unable to find a donor match.
That is until he learns about an unknown daughter he fathered
who was put up for adoption. He and Lloyd set out on a road trip
to find her but become unwittingly ensnared in a murder plot.
"Find your kid, find your kidney!" Lloyd exclaims to a puzzled
Harry.
Their trip unfolds with typical harebrained hijinks, including
crossing the country in a borrowed hearse and a stolen Zamboni
ice resurfacer.
Although the first "Dumb and Dumber" grossed $247 million
worldwide and became a mainstay on U.S. cable TV, Daniels admits
his agents were correct that starring in a doofus comedy replete
with scatological humor could set him back in Hollywood.
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 "I think easily for 10 years - and because of the success of
'Dumb and Dumber' - I was no longer taken seriously," he said.
Daniels, who earned Golden Globe acting nominations for "The
Purple Rose of Cairo" (1985) and "Something Wild" (1986) did not
score another top-tier Hollywood award nomination until 2005's
"The Squid and the Whale."
"As soon as you do comedy, then you're not serious anymore, which
has always bothered me because the last time you looked, the Greeks
are holding up two masks - and to be able to do both seems to be the
point of being an actor," Daniels added.
Two decades on, Daniels has earned enough showbiz gravitas to afford
pulling off a "Dumb and Dumber" sequel while still getting to show
off his dramatic chops on Aaron Sorkin's HBO series "The Newsroom,"
picking up an Emmy award for best TV drama actor along the way as
well.
"I love changing it up," Daniels said. "I love going from 'Newsroom'
to 'Dumb and Dumber.' I like that range. I like doing what you're
not supposed to do with your career choices."
(Editing by Mary Milliken and Richard Chang)
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