Jim Carrey is best known for his numerous roles in goofy Hollywood comedies like The Mask or Dumb and Dumber but as he's stepped further away from the big screen, he's revealing a hidden talent not many of us knew he had - and an admiration for Jesus too.

The actor talks about his passion for painting in a new mini-documentary, 'I Needed Color' uploaded to Vimeo two weeks ago.  It's only six minutes long but it's no wonder it's gone viral as it gives a wonderful insight into his love for painting.  

The comedian can be seen working in his art studio on a dazzlingly colorful portrait of Jesus as he opens about the meaning of painting for him. 

He got into painting six years ago 'to heal a broken heart' but it's clearly so much more than a hobby or time-filler as he talks about the connection between the visual aspects of painting and what's going on inside of him. 

'You can tell what I love by the color of the paintings,' he said. 'You can tell my inner life by the darkness in some of them and you can tell what I want from the brightness in some of them.'

It may come as a surprise to viewers when they see him working on a beautiful picture of Jesus in bright reds, yellows and blues. He tells the audience that the 'energy' surrounding Christ is 'electric' and the painting certainly captures that feeling.

So is Carrey a Christian? He talks about that too. 

'I don't know if Jesus is real, I don't know if he lived, I don't know what he means, but the paintings of Jesus are really my desire to convey Christ's consciousness,' Carrey admitted. 'I wanted you to have the feeling when you look in his eyes that he was accepting of who you are. I wanted him to be able to stare at you and heal you from the pain.'

He added, 'You can find every race in the face of Jesus. I think that's how every race imagines Jesus; they imagine him as their own.'