Or, at the very least, he almost directed a sequel to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
The revelation came from Jim Carrey himself during publicity for his new documentary, Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond, which looks at the production behind his Andy Kaufman biopic Man On The Moon. Jonze, who's a producer on the documentary, had a run-in with Carrey all the way back in the '90s when he came in to pitch for the sequel for Carrey's breakout film.
As Carrey tells it, it was merely a case of not recognising Jonze's talent at the time. Jonze, of course, went on to direct Being John Malkovich, Her, Where The Wild Things Are and the greatest music video of our time - namely, Sabotage by Beastie Boys.
"I was stupid enough to turn him (Jonze) down to direct Ace 2, 'cause I had no idea who he was. And he came in and pitched all kinds of shit, and he was about to take over the world and I didn’t know it. I was like “I don’t know, this guy’s new.” And I’ve been kicking myself ever since."
You'd have to wonder whether the rhino birthing scene would have made its way into Jonze's version of the film, or would it have been something much better? Who knows.
Via ScreenCrush
