12:42 AM EDT 10/15/2009
Ben Stiller
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Zac Efron Finds There's Something About Ben Stiller
Originally posted 05/22/2009 09:50AM
There is more to life than being ridiculously good looking. Just ask Ben Stiller.
Zac Efron, 21, will present the Zoolander star, 43, with MTV's Generation Award at the upcoming Movie Awards, the network confirms to PEOPLE.
Stiller has appeared in dozens of films – Reality Bites, There's Something About Mary, Meet the Parents, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Tropic Thunder and Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian, which opens Friday – and worked in Hollywood as a director, producer and writer.
Permalink | Filed Under: TV News, Ben Stiller, Zac Efron
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Jada Pinkett Smith Dishes on Her Diva-Less Family
Originally posted 11/24/2008 10:30AM
With the whole family in showbiz, Hollywood mom Jada Pinkett Smith says high maintenance isn't an option in her household.
Pinkett Smith, 37, has been married to funnyman Will Smith for 11 years, and their two kids, 10-year-old Jaden and 8-year-old Willow, already have a few movie credits under their belts. Jaden performed alongside dad in The Pursuit of Happyness, while Willow voiced the character of Baby Gloria in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Fittingly, Pinkett Smith starred as the older version – Gloria.
But Pinkett Smith says her family is simply doing what they love.
"Everybody just enjoys doing what they do," she says in an exclusive chat with PEOPLE at the London premiere of the Madagascar sequel. "We're all really happy, so we just do it."
She adds: "Thank goodness in my family we don't allow divas."
Permalink | Filed Under: Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith
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Jack Black: I'm Too Big for Bergdorf's!
Originally posted 11/13/2008 09:30AM
Jack Black looked dapper in a well-tailored tuxedo Wednesday night, as he attended a black-tie gala in honor of good pal Ben Stiller. But, he admitted, suiting up was a "humiliating" – and hysterical – ordeal.
"I only found out yesterday that this thing was black tie," the comedian told the audience at the American Museum of Moving Images Salute to Ben Stiller in New York. "And I've got to say that I hate black tie. I was going to say screw it. I was just going to wear my jockies and trench coat."
What changed his mind?
"I found out that I was going to be sitting next to [Robert] DeNiro and P. Diddy. And they were going to be looking very sharp .... So I went over to Berdorf Goodman and I said, 'Show me your finest tux!' "
And that's when butterball Black ran into trouble. "The lady there was like, 'Your neck ... it's too big. It's too big for this store! I'm sorry Jack Black, but you might want to go to Big and Tall.' "
Permalink | Filed Under: Ben Stiller, Jack Black
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Ben Stiller's Family 'Is the Real Stuff'
Originally posted 10/27/2008 10:40AM
In many of his movies, funnyman Ben Stiller acts like a big kid. Off-screen, he credits own children with keeping him inspired and grounded in Hollywood.
"Family – that’s real stuff," he told PEOPLE on Sunday at the Los Angeles premiere of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, in which he costars with Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schwimmer (not to mention some cameo voice work by his kids!).
"It keeps you grounded in life. You have to have a balance when you’re working in this business of the time you spend at home with your family and not working, and that becomes much more important when you have kids. [It] is for me."
Stiller, 42, who has two children Ella, 6, and Quinlin, 3, with wife, actress Christine Taylor, says his family influences his work choices as well.
"You have to be aware of when the kids are in school and where you can go, and how long you can go away for, or if everybody can come along."
Permalink | Filed Under: Ben Stiller
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Cruise in Control on the Red Carpet
Originally posted 08/12/2008 03:55PM
Tom Cruise may only have a small part in Tropic Thunder, but he ruled the red carpet for the Los Angeles premiere.
Cruise, who donned a fat suit to play studio exec Les Grossman in the film, stayed close to wife Katie Holmes Monday night, greeting fans and only letting go of her hand to pose for a quick cast shot.
Other than the fans, fellow star were happy to see the couple – PEOPLE caught Matthew McConaughey, Ben Stiller and Jack Black all giving big hugs to Cruise. And costar Jay Baruchel told PEOPLE that Cruise is "the funniest guy in the world."
Permalink | Filed Under: Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise
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Ben Stiller: Tom Cruise 'Has Moves' in Tropic Thunder
Originally posted 08/07/2008 03:55PM
It's been 25 years since he shimmied in his skivvies in Risky Business, but Tom Cruise can still shake it like a pro, according to his Tropic Thunder director Ben Stiller.
"The guy has moves," says Stiller, who also co-wrote and stars in the military-themed action-comedy.
Cruise, 46, is winning raves for his role as a vulgar, venom-spewing studio executive in the movie, in which he's nearly unrecognizable beneath a fat suit, a bald cap and a beard.
Permalink | Filed Under: Risky Business, Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller, Tom Cruise
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Ben Stiller, Jack Black & Robert Downey Jr. Bring Tropic Thunder to Camp Pendleton
Originally posted 08/06/2008 01:20PM
It was an attack Camp Pendleton didn't see coming: Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. brought a full-scale laugh assault to the Marines there as they presented a special screening of their military-themed action-comedy, Tropic Thunder.
"We were really excited to show this movie to the military personnel who do so much for our country," Ben Stiller said in a statement. "I think they really got a kick out of seeing a bunch of spoiled actors complaining about how hard it is to do a war movie. But seriously, it was really hard. We almost did a boot camp, but then decided on a cast dinner instead."
Like a film premiere, there was a red carpet at the base's MCC Base Theater – only it was (fittingly) combat green-colored. And once the film's stars were inside the theater, they spent time meeting the troops, posing for pictures and then introduced the film.
Tropic Thunder blasts into theaters Aug. 13.
Permalink | Filed Under: Good Deeds, Movie News, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr.
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Ben Stiller Speaks Out on Owen Wilson's Inner Pain
Originally posted 07/18/2008 02:40PM
They may be all laughs together on the silver screen, but when it comes to friend Owen Wilson's attempted suicide last year, Tropic Thunder star Ben Stiller is gravely serious.
"I love Owen, and I felt bad that he had to deal with all the outside bulls--," the comic actor, 42, tells Playboy in its August issue. "It's impossible to understand that kind of pain – depression or anything like that – until you're in it."
On a cheerier note, Stiller admits to idolizing costar Robert Downey Jr. on the Thunder set.
Permalink | Filed Under: Ben StillerOwen Wilson
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Ben Stiller, Jay Leno Pay Tribute to George Carlin
Originally posted 06/23/2008 03:35PM
George Carlin – who once wryly wondered, "Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?" – is being mourned by fellow comedians such as Ben Stiller and Jay Leno, not only for being a groundbreaker in entertainment but an individual of great honor.
"George Carlin was a hugely influential force in stand-up comedy," Stiller, 42, said in a statement. "He had an amazing mind, and his humor was brave, and always challenging us to look at ourselves and question our belief systems, while being incredibly entertaining. He was one of the greats and he will be missed."
Carlin, 71, died Sunday of heart failure.
Staff members of Saturday Night Live and David Letterman's Late Show are said to devastated by the loss, a former associate of both programs tells PEOPLE.
Permalink | Filed Under: Ben Stiller, George Carlin, Jay Leno
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Revealed: More Details on Tom Cruise's Cameo in Tropic Thunder
Originally posted 04/03/2008 01:15PM
There's a surprise coming in Ben Stiller's next movie, Tropic Thunder: Tom Cruise, as he's never been seen before.
Rather than play his typical, boyishly charming good guy, Cruise delivers an apparently memorable cameo in which he's craggy, fat, bald, vulgar, hairy-chested – and playing an ungrateful studio boss, reports The New York Times, which also says that Cruise's opening line in the movie comedy is enough to guarantee it an R-rating when it opens Aug. 15.
The Times points out that Tropic Thunder is a Paramount Picture: Paradoxically, in August 2006 Cruise was famously fired from Paramount by its parent-company chief Sumner Redstone, despite the star's having made such big hits for the studio as 1984's Top Gun and the Mission: Impossible series.
Permalink | Filed Under: Ben Stiller, Sumner Redstone, Tom Cruise
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