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I actually started working on Madagascar before my daughter was born.

Ben Stiller

Sometimes I wondered whether I hadn’t let my career get confined to one direction, but lately I’ve decided to accept the fact that I have this opportunity to be successful doing comedies.
BEN STILLER

Direction Opportunity Successful
My own parents were touchy-feely.
BEN STILLER

Own Parent Touchy
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 STILLER

People Sick Tired
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.
BEN STILLER

Giving Thinking Trying
When I was growing up, This is Spinal Tap [1984] was the ultimate comedy, and it was the kind of thing I wanted to do. But you get to a point with parody where you can’t go much further because ultimately it’s feeding off of somebody else’s creativity.
BEN STILLER

Creativity Grow Spinal Tap Up
I don’t think the public is dying to see me necessarily be funny all the time.
BEN STILLER

Dying Necessarily Public Thinking
My parents used to throw great New Year’s Eve parties. They invited such an eclectic mix of showbiz people. All those cool people were always hanging out at our apartment.
BEN STILLER

New Year Party Years
I don’t think it’s ever easy to be funny. I find it easy to amuse myself with a certain sort of cynical dark humor that tends toward the meaner side, like my character in Happy Gilmore. Those kinds of characters come easily to me.
BEN STILLER

Character Dark Thinking
There’s a sense here in L.A. that everybody’s aware of everybody all the time. It’s funny but we choose it. People who are here want to be here, including me.
BEN STILLER

Including People Want
It was Mick Jagger’s idea.The other one was Simple Plan, based on a novel by Scott Smith. It’s a great book – really stark, not a comedy – about a guy who finds $4 million in a plane crash and decides to keep it.
BEN STILLER

Book Find Guy Idea Jagger Million Simple
Jim Carrey, a comic genius, has a harder time overcoming the public’s desire for him to be funny simply because he’s so good at it.
BEN STILLER

Desire Genius Overcoming
I have not been an easygoing guy. I think it’s called bipolar manic depression. I’ve got a rich history of that in my family.
BEN STILLER

Bipolar Guy Thinking
It was a mixed blessing to have famous parents. It was tough to go to auditions and be bad, since I couldn’t be anonymous.
BEN STILLER

Audition Blessing Parent
I think people will be curious to see what I can do as a dramatic actor.
BEN STILLER

Actors People Thinking
Whatever talent I had, I’m sure it helped that my parents were in the business and that I grew up around actors, comedians and directors.
BEN STILLER

Comedian Directors Parent
The failure of The Cable Guy impacted my career. I had to start writing and acting again.
BEN STILLER

Careers Guy Writing
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 STILLER

People Personality Thinking
I’m very interested in the early American history, the time when the country came together.
BEN STILLER

Country History Together
Moisture is the essence of wetness, and wetness is the essence of beauty.
BEN STILLER

Essence Moisture Wetness
I actually started working on Madagascar before my daughter was born.
BEN STILLER

Daughter Start Working
The big-name stars . . . are always going to be playing what they’ve played before if they want to remain so-called A-list stars. That’s why someone like Johnny Depp is doing more interesting roles not caring about the size of the movie.
BEN STILLER

Caring Names Stars
Very quickly after meeting Dustin, the whole image I had of him was shattered.
BEN STILLER

Comedy Meeting Shattered
I wanted to be funny for people who didn’t care about fashion at all, to just to kind of exist as a silly character.
BEN STILLER

Fashion Funny Silly
I don’t know what that weid fantasy is that makes people go, “Oh, you must have had a great childhood.”
BEN STILLER

Childhood Fantasy People
Words can only hurt you if you try to read them. Don’t play their game!
BEN STILLER

Games Hurt Play
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 STILLER

Anything Disaster Flirting Hour Something
I’ve had a very good career and I’m grateful that the public has had some level of acceptance and appreciation of my work.
BEN STILLER

Acceptance Appreciation Grateful

I actually started working on Madagascar before my daughter was born.

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I actually started working on Madagascar before my daughter was born.

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