I have a lot of nervous energy. Work is my best way of channelling that into something productive unless I want to wind up assaulting the postman or gardener.
BEN STILLERWhatever 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.
More Ben Stiller Quotes
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I had two projects that fell apart during preproduction. The first one was this movie that Judd Apatow and I had written about two guys following the Rolling Stones. It was going to be half concert film, half pseudo-documentary.
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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.
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I don’t have a burning desire to be taken seriously as an actor. I don’t have a master plan in that way.
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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.
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I studied Tom Cruise running in all the Mission Impossibles. I think he’s one of the best screen runners.
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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.
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It’s great to work with the people who make you laugh and who are funnier than I am.
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I’m very interested in the early American history, the time when the country came together.
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I love New York. I was sad, depressed and incredibly moved by our fellow countrymen and what they’ve done. I wanted to give people a chance to see something funny, have a distraction.
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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.
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I don’t play hockey at all. I’m not comfortable on skates.
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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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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?”
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Zoolander was more of my own sensibility.
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I would like to do more dramas when I find a good role that will allow me to politely upset people’s expectations of me as a comic actor.
BEN STILLER