Ben Stiller on trying
“I think you never want to have to go into the scene having to improvise; you want to make sure its working on the page. But I do like to have the ability to try stuff just in the moment, to give it some sort of spontaneity.”
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More Ben Stiller quotes
You have to stay in character in between takes.
Ben StillerBen Stiller I was staying on [writer/director/actor] Eric Schaeffer’s couch in New York, and he said, “I’ve got this movie [If Lucy Fell]. Can you do five days on it?”
Ben StillerBen Stiller I’m very interested in the early American history, the time when the country came together.
Ben StillerBen Stiller Moisture is the essence of wetness, and wetness is the essence of beauty.
Ben StillerBen Stiller And I was like, “Yeah, anything. Twenty-four hours times five is 120 hours. Oh, great, I’ll fill 120 hours of my life with something.” So I did that and it was fun, and then I did Flirting with Disaster.
Ben StillerBen Stiller I don’t think know if anything’s going to translate anywhere. You’re making a movie, you hope it’s going to be funny, you can’t think about how it’s going to go over.
Ben StillerBen Stiller Words can only hurt you if you try to read them. Don’t play their game!
Ben StillerBen Stiller I grew up wanting to make movies, and along the way I suddenly found that I had a career doing comedy.
Ben StillerBen Stiller Maybe forced retirement isn’t necessary after all.
Ben StillerBen Stiller I studied Tom Cruise running in all the Mission Impossibles. I think he’s one of the best screen runners.
Ben StillerBen Stiller The cliches are that it’s the most generic Starsky and Hutch plot you can find.
Ben StillerBen Stiller My own parents were touchy-feely.
Ben StillerBen Stiller People like to define you through what they’ve seen you do. There are aspects of my personality, I guess, that come through on-screen, but I don’t sit around thinking, ‘I’ve been a bumbling suitor all my life.’
Ben StillerBen Stiller As a kid I had dreams about being successful, thinking it would be cool. Then, when I was in my 20s, I really thought I had it much more figured out than I do now.
Ben StillerBen Stiller There’s always an element of fear that you need to work a lot until people get sick and tired of you or finally figure out that you’re a fraud after all!
Ben StillerBen Stiller I’m Jewish, but my mom’s Catholic, so the guilt area is covered. I have the highest expectations, along with the lowest. I tried to put as much of myself as possible in Reality Bites, but in terms of my humor, I’m still trying to figure out what my sensibility is. It’s a process, really.
Ben StillerBen Stiller
