Jim Carrey’s career began in 1977 when he made his first stand-up comedy appearance at the age of 15. After he found TV stardom on the sketch comedy "In Living Color," global fame came in 1994, a breakthrough year in which he starred in not one but three smash films: “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “The Mask,” and “Dumb and Dumber.” His unique blend of riotous slapstick and funny faces made him a beloved household name, but he also showed real acting chops in movies such as “The Truman Show,” “Man on the Moon,” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” Whether he’s playing the Grinch or God, Carrey has always sought to bring his unique light to the performance. “I'm going to do whatever I can to bring to the world something creative, something challenging, something inventive,” he told the “L.A. Times.” “And whenever possible, when pain happens, when confusion happens, when disillusionment happens, I turn it into something.”  

Widely considered one of the great writers of the 20th century, Nikos Kazantzakis is known for his plays, prose, and poetry that drew heavily from the philosophical tenets of Christianity, Marxism, and Buddhism. Born in Crete in 1883 while the island was fighting for its independence from the Ottoman Empire, he went on to serve in the Greek government after World War II then work for UNESCO as a literary advisor. Through all of his adventures and travels he continued writing, and his work earned him nine nominations for the Nobel Prize in literature. One of his most famous books, “The Last Temptation of Christ,” was wildly controversial, but Kazantzakis weathered the ensuing storm with grace. When he died at the age of 74, his tombstone was carved with the inscription: “I hope for nothing. I’m not afraid of anything. I am free.”