Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, directed by Frenchman Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kaufman of Adaptation fame, is about an option to erase your mind of someone when a relationship goes wrong. "It's a simple love story about destiny," said lead actress Kate Winslet who plays Clementine. "If you meet the right person, even though you might not see it at first, fate will win out."

The film has a strong cast, but when the lead actor is Jim Carrey (Joel), can a serious theme about romance really evolve? Absolutely. Critics are praising the development of the romantic idea as well as Carrey's ability to do some serious work. Even his fellow film mates commented about his talent.

"I was expecting this explosion to come into the room," explained Kaufman, "but when I first met Jim, he was really quiet and nice After our meeting I felt comfortable for him to play Joel. The good thing about people like Jim Carrey doing a movie like ours is that they're not doing it for money, because they're not getting their normal fee. So you know they're doing it for the right reason."

A movie that's sometimes funny and other times painful can be a difficult challenge for an actor, but Michel Gondry had no qualms about his leading man. "I needed actors who would be ready to be inventive -- to surprise, and be surprised, on the set -- to be flexible and adapt," he said. "I knew that Jim would bring a lot to the character."

When Joel discovers that Clementine has erased his memory, he decides to do the same. Dr. Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson) and his team, Stan (Mark Ruffalo), Patrick (Elijah Wood) and Mary (Kirsten Dunst) handle the procedure. Carrey's role during the procedure is to stay motionless in bed. Jim Carrey -- motionless! How is that possible?

"Although sometimes he'd do little blinks, he'd stay like that for days," said Kirsten Dunst.

"One time we had two cameras rolling -- one a close up of him and one was on us (Stan and Mary)," said Mark Ruffalo. "We were doing a dance and then we rolled up on the bed and my butt and Kirsten's foot were in his face, and Jim held it straight."

What was not so exact was the directing technique of Michel Gondry. Using mostly a hand-held camera, with little rehearsal, he let the camera role until it was out of film. "I want the story to exist without the camera," he said. "I want the scene to be about the character so I don't image anything before I shoot, except the location and the lighting."

Tom Wilkinson was more than amazed at Gondry's abilities. "The film is well acted, and we will take as much credit as we can get, but Michel Gondry is the star of this movie," stated Wilkinson. "How he put something like this together simply defies belief. The amount of stuff he has to deal with and the way he has to keep a complicated story in his head as he films -- and then reform it while cutting it and still retain the complexity of the emotional aspects is astoundingly hard to do. And to keep track of where everyone is in the story is a fantastic feat."

Kaufman added, "What I like about Michel is that he's got this technical brilliance, and yet there's this human stuff going on. That's a really unusual combination."

Both Kaufman's script and a chance to work with Gondry drew the actors to the film. "I thought it was incredible, and I couldn't believe I was being offered the part," said Carrey. "I was very happy and when I read the script. I felt guilty. It was like, 'wow,' this and The Truman Show. "

Winslet said, "This is brilliant. Charlie Kaufman is such an incredible writer, and every character in this script is completely flushed out and a well-rounded character. Michel is a young, edgy French director and so incredibly funny. There was no way I was not going to do this. Wild horses could not have kept me away.  I'm also a hopeless romantic and enjoy indulging in romantic stories. I love the simplicity of this story that underneath all the craziness and unorthodox telling of this tale is that it's about two people who are meant to be."

Kirsten Dunst thinks this was one of the best scripts she's ever read. "I've read female roles that were human beings instead of being some Hollywood version of some writer's fantasy girl where you usually have to work so hard at fixing something. With this script it was easy, because it was already done."

Mark Ruffalo signed on for his role immediately. "I've done a lot of comedy, and I was excited to do something with such pure intensity. Michel is such a genius. He's ten steps ahead of everyone on the set, and as an actor you are literally chasing him, yelling, "Michel!" He has such a clear vision of what he wants for a character and is so specific and detail oriented."

Comments about Kaufman's odd sense of storytelling abound in the industry, and he admits his ideas take a long time to write. "This script was a real struggle, it doesn't come easy," he said. "I just think about things a lot in my head even when I'm not wanting to. I'm just obsessive."

While Kaufman does not like to narrow down his film to one specific idea, "I don't write with a message in mind," he said. "If you can narrow down the theme in one line, then why make a two-hour movie," his cast members all seemed to work better once they grasped the idea of the journey.
 
Winslet tapped into the erasing aspect easily. "If you're meant to be with someone, you will be no matter what the odds are, no matter how much pain and suffering or what you have to go through," she said -- which is exactly what Joel and Clementine discover in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.