RIDDLE ME THIS . . . : Can Carrey Don a More Serious Mask?

This could wind up being Peter Weir’s year of living dangerously. The Australian director, known for cerebral dramas like “Witness” and “Fearless,” is attempting to alter the public’s perception of Jim Carrey.

Weir’s project is called “The Truman Show,” a $40-million-plus Paramount picture that is targeted for an August 1997 release.

“Truman” is being called a “Network” for the ‘90s by those who have read the script. It is the story of a young man who is the last to learn that he lives in a make-believe world, that his life is nothing more than a TV show--a tool in the television industry’s never-ending quest to be the first in the ratings game at any cost. A network turns profits on chronicling a man’s life, secret only to him. His eventual discovery of that unbridled documentation appears to drive him mad to those around him.

Flash back 20 years to when Paddy Chayefsky’s “Network” was a scathing indictment on the industry. That time it was a television newscaster driven to madness, with the same industry turning the madman into a celebrity--a strategy that reaped enormous profits and ratings for the network. The late Peter Finch played that victim.

But is Carrey qualified to carry such a dramatic role? And why would Weir, of all directors, take on the task of fine-tuning Carrey’s dramatic skills in the actor’s quest to stretch and “be taken seriously”?

At first blush, it seems a bizarre match. And some who know the director and the actor consider it a joke.

“Anyone around here would have suspected Weir’s next move would have been a film with a star like Harrison Ford, certainly not Carrey,” one Paramount source says. “He’s a great director, but this will really put him to the test.”

Others pin Weir’s move as another flashback. After all, it was Weir who directed Robin Williams in “Dead Poets Society.” Williams, known for his crazed comedic improvisations in stand-up, on “Mork & Mindy” and in films such as “Good Morning, Vietnam,” didn’t play a concentrated dramatic role until “Dead Poets Society.” And it worked--for both Weir and Williams. It became the director’s most commercially successful film.

Carrey, like Williams, was discovered on a TV comedy show, “In Living Color,” and hopes this role could be his crossover. (He’s reportedly even taken less money, $12 million instead of his usual $20-million fee.)

“Jim Carrey and Peter Weir are extraordinarily creative and talented people,” says Sherry Lansing, Paramount Pictures chairman. “Separately, each brings a vitality and vision to every project they are involved in. We feel this is a wonderful combination, and we are very excited about it.”

Says Scott Kroopf, head of production at Interscope, which produced “Dead Poets Society”: “It wasn’t like Robin was doing ‘Hamlet,’ but he knew he had to carry the integrity of the movie, and he did. Robin in many ways set the example for Jim. ‘Truman’ is a good choice for him. It’s off-center material, but it’s not like he’s doing ‘Love Affair’ either.”

Weir, superstitious about discussing the film before the first frame has been shot, declined an interview. Carrey graciously bowed out, saying he was too busy on another project to chat about why he chose “Truman.”

Carrey, in an earlier interview with The Times, said that through the years he discovered a theme in his work: “guys who think they’re in control but they aren’t.” That comment seems prophetic considering his choice of the “Truman” role.

The actor himself had become a bit of trouble for Paramount and the start date of production, studio sources say. It was supposed to begin this month, but the shoot was stalled because Carrey had to begin work on the “The Cable Guy”--a role that will make him $20 million richer. Paramount, says one key source, was upset with him and reportedly had even considered forgoing the project until Weir expressed interest in directing it.

It was Weir’s interest, the source says, that essentially saved the project and made the wait for Carrey worthwhile.