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 STILLERThere’s an old saying in Hollywood: It’s not the length of your film, it’s how you use it.
More Ben Stiller Quotes
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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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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.
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I don’t know what that weid fantasy is that makes people go, “Oh, you must have had a great childhood.”
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You have to stay in character in between takes.
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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 grew up wanting to make movies, and along the way I suddenly found that I had a career doing comedy.
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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.
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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.
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My own parents were touchy-feely.
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Nobody makes me bleed my own blood – nobody!
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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.’
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I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. And I plan on finding out what that is.
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I think this whole celebrity world is weird anyway. Weird and funny and kind of pathetic and yet so right for parody.
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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 STILLER -
I don’t play hockey at all. I’m not comfortable on skates.
BEN STILLER








