NORTH STAR

Actress Lauren Holly on becoming Canadian, being a mom and loving her latest role

- SHINAN GOVANI

More than three decades after comedy classic Dumb and Dumber hit the big screen, Lauren Holly still gets a kick out of the 1994 flick’s enduring appeal – and that “it resonates with multiple generations. It was crazy to me when my boys were in high school and all their friends were freaking out over it.”

Much has transpired since then, and Lauren – who married her Ontario-born costar Jim Carrey in 1996 (but parted ways with him less than a year later) – is all too happy to look back on her journey.

The Pennsylvania native has been a showbiz staple since she got her start in the '80s, notably starring on soap opera All My Children and then primetime mainstays like Picket Fences — not to mention Canadian series Family Law, which shoots in her adopted homeland. For more than two decades, Lauren has been based in Canada – “I came to Toronto for work and just stayed.”

All along, the 61-year-old has never lost the itch “to create” – even, poignantly, after she tragically lost both her father and a brother just days apart in 2022. “I was in a ‘grief coma’ for a few months [afterward], trying to process everything,” she candidly tells Hello! Canada. “When I came out of it, my first instinct was to work.”

What followed is her new film, Loathe Thy Neighbor, a dark comedy that casts her as a volatile farmer at odds with the city kid who moves into town.

Here, the proud mom of three – sons Henry, George and Alexander are all in their 20s – gives us a glimpse into her world.

Holly, tell us about your latest movie, which also counts you as an executive producer.