Molly Shannon and Jim Carrey knew each other long before How the Grinch Stole Christmas

One may think that Saturday Night Live alumni Molly Shannon and Jim Carrey first met while on set of the comedy show or perhaps during How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but they would lose that bet.

During EW’s Role Call, Shannon revealed that she met Carrey while working at a restaurant where he use to frequent before she was a star.

“Jim Carrey is so great!” Shannon says. “I use to wait on Jim as a waitress — I believe at Mel and Roses. I served him hamburgers. He actually just came up to me at a restaurant and said ‘Remember when you were my waitress.’ Isn’t that funny?”

Molly Shannon and Jim Carrey

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images; CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images Molly Shannon and Jim Carrey

While talking about her time on How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Shannon also went into depth about how tiring making the holiday film actually was. Not only did she have to sit through hours of makeup and prothetic application, but she was catching flights every weekend to make it happen. “I got cast in that while I was shooting Saturday Night Live so I was doing both at the same time. I would fly back and forth and it was so hard!” Shannon says. “I would shoot the Grinch Monday through Friday and then get on a red eye Friday night to do [SNL] Saturday. It was so tiring and then I would get back on the plane Sunday night from New York City to be back in LA for a 4 a.m. wake-up because it took hours to put on that prothetic makeup. It was really hard, but the fact that I pulled that off — shooting both those giant jobs at once — is a miracle.”

Shannon’s hard work paid off. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a staple holiday film and has a lasting legacy that has beat the test of time, similar to Shannon and Carrey’s friendship.

The pair have worked together a few times, but Carrey will never forget where their friendship first took root. “He was like ‘Remember we got burgers from you and you were a really friendly waitress?’ He’s a really nice, wonderful guy.'”

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