在录像带店工作的店员艾德（马修·麦康纳MatthewMcConaughey饰）是一个普通的不能再普通的三十岁男人，就连他自己也想象不到，有一天，自己竟然成为了家喻户晓的电视名人。原来，电视台节目总监辛西娅（艾伦·德詹尼丝EllenDeGeneres饰）的事业遭遇了滑铁卢，日渐低迷的收视率让她的职位受到了巨大的威胁，在这个节骨眼上，她决定制作一档二十四小时连续放送的大型真人秀节目，而节目的主人公正是艾德。　　很快，艾德的名字便响彻了大江南北，名声和利益接踵而至，让一向不引人注目的艾德尝尽了一夜成名的梦幻滋味。然而，随着时间的推移，艾德发现自己的出名带来的并不只是美好的一面，渐渐显露出的贪婪的人心和无处不在的监视和束缚让他开始想要回到曾经简单快乐自由自在的生活中去。

Producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr., whose father,Samuel Goldwyn, produced The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) in 1947, conceived the idea of doing a remake in 1994, with Jim Carrey in mind for the title role. Goldwyn chose New Line Cinema, which had a positive working relationship with Carrey. The studio bought the rights in 1995, with the understanding that The Samuel Goldwyn Company would be involved in creative decisions. Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz turned in the first draft of the screenplay in July 1997. Ron Howard entered negotiations to direct the same month, as well as cover producing duties with Brian Grazer and Imagine Entertainment. Howard, Grazer, and Imagine Entertainment eventually left the project in favor of Edtv (1999), leaving the Mitty project in development hell.