• November 26, 2001
• Vol. 56
• No. 22

Ben Stiller: Sexiest Funnyman

• 

From PEOPLE Magazine

He calls his overblown alter ego "the world's most famous really, really good-looking male supermodel," but Zoolander's 5'7" writer, director and star is one reluctant pinup. Ben Stiller claims he's "lucky just to get through life and feel okay with how I look some days." It all depends on his hair. Growing up in Manhattan, "I wore it down to my shoulders—that Upper West Side, could-be-a-boy-or-girl, mid-'70s look. I wouldn't cut it," says the son of celebrated comedians Jerry Stiller, 74, and Anne Meara, 72. Today Stiller, 35, who shares a Spanish-style L.A. house with his wife and Zoolander costar, Christine Taylor, admits he's "obsessed with watching my hairline recede—it's one of those things that makes you feel like, 'Wow, you're an adult!' "

A romantic one at that. For Taylor's 29th birthday last year, he created a short film featuring the couple's chocolate Lab, Kahlua. "It was an action-adventure about the dog saving the day," says Taylor, who expects the couple's first child next spring. "It took so much time and energy, and he did it all for me." Stiller's quirky allure isn't lost on others. "I had the biggest crush on him years before I met him," says Teri Polo, his costar in last year's Meet the Parents. "That bone structure and those eyes!"