00:00What can you say, working with Robert De Niro?
00:02The thing I remember the most is that the first scene we did together,
00:06I ended up cracking up in his face when he said his first line.
00:10I just laughed. I broke character because I was so nervous and he was funny.
00:15Hi, I'm Ben Stiller and we're here at my Hollywood Reporter cover shoot
00:19and we're taking a look at some of my close collabs.
00:22Will Ferrell's Zoolander, the no eye contact when you're doing a scene rule that he has
00:35makes it challenging, but eventually I actually thought it helped.
00:42I was just kidding. Will's a genius.
00:44I mean, I remember him, I think, improvising the line,
00:49I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
00:52Doesn't anyone notice this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
00:56I think that was an improv in the moment of Will's laughing most of the time, watching him.
01:02I loved that he dyed his hair white or bleach blonde for the entire shoot,
01:07which went on for like three months while he was doing Saturday Night Live.
01:12Winona Ryder, Reality Bites, amazing, gave me the opportunity to direct because she wanted to do the movie.
01:28Recommended this guy, Ethan Hawke.
01:31Winona was LaLena.
01:33She believed in the project so much.
01:36She was great to work with.
01:38And she's just like a very, very sweet person.
01:42When you make your first movie, there's so many things that you do wrong that you realize,
01:46and then you try to do it better the next time, then you make other mistakes.
01:50But I'm trying to think of one.
01:52I mean, there was one scene where I didn't shoot any coverage.
01:55I thought I was going to kind of do it all as a oner in one piece,
01:58and that ended up really not working out for me,
02:02and I ended up having to just chop the scene in half.
02:13What can you say working with Robert De Niro?
02:16Every day I was just excited to be there and nervous and trying to do well.
02:22And the thing I remember the most is that the first scene we did together,
02:27I ended up cracking up in his face when he said his first line.
02:31I just laughed.
02:32I broke character because I was so nervous and he was funny.
02:37And then he laughed, so I knew it would be okay.
02:41I had no idea you could milk a cat.
02:44Oh, yeah, you can milk anything with nipples.
02:49I have nipples, Greg.
02:50Could you milk me?
02:52What's that in your life?
02:54What's that in your life?
02:55What's that in your life?
02:55What's that in your life?
02:57What's that in your life?
02:57What's that in your life?
03:01First time I met Robin Williams was at the Improv Comedy Club in L.A.,
03:05probably in like 1970, I don't know, 78 or something, 77 or 78.
03:11He was on Mork & Mindy.
03:13He was a huge star that everybody had just discovered.
03:17I was a huge fan.
03:19I was like whatever 12 years old and my parents were there and they introduced me to him and
03:27I was walking behind my mother and Robin whispered in my ear stay close to your mother you'll be safe
03:33stay close to your mother you'll be safe and I was like that's the most the coolest thing I've ever
03:39experienced as a as a 12 year old anybody who spent time with Robin felt his generosity
03:45anytime a fan would come over to him anywhere anytime he would give them his attention and
03:52connect with them and he was incredibly generous as an actor as a person you know he was crazy too and
04:01had all that amazing energy which was just so unique but but it all came out of such a really
04:10positive place it's time for your next adventure
04:15I have no idea what I'm gonna do tomorrow how exciting
04:27gosh what can you say about Adam best hair in the biz I've said it before I think for a while he
04:35skated by on his hair and that was one of the reasons why we wanted to change up his hairstyle
04:41in severance because I knew that there was there was something behind the hair but he's also a nice
04:47guy too and um very professional I sometimes wonder with his hair like like is do the roots of the hair
04:57actually go so far deep into his head that that's why it's so great you know like how a tree has roots
05:02and that's what makes it gives it the ability to stand tall I think his the roots of his hair go into
05:09his brain and sometimes anyway I should say nice things about him
05:14I mean she's you know she's the best Jennifer she was a great scene partner such amazing with comedy
05:32sweet on the inside and we had fun and you know we got in some you know awkward situations together and
05:41we got through it together the last scene and along came polly we have to walk down a beach
05:49nude so we got through that one together and she was very supportive and I appreciated that and I've
05:56been happy and I've been sad and I've been lonely and that's what I've been doing which is a lot more
06:01than I can say for some freak who thinks he's gonna get the Ebola virus from a bowl of mixed nuts
06:06those nuts have pee on them
06:16my brother Adam that's how I feel about Adam he's uh especially in that movie we kind of came together
06:24having known each other for a lot of years you know he's singular he does things his own way uh and
06:30it's great the way he does things because he includes everybody on the set he's the man of the people
06:37the first time I met Adam I think was when he was doing uh the MTV game show called remote control back
06:45in the late 80s and I was there and he was doing this character stud boy that would come on and ask questions
06:52um and he was a real sensation and uh girls liked him and he was cool and I was a little intimidated
06:59by him and now now I'm happy when people mistake me for him Harold Meyer with his son Matthew yes
07:07uh and this is Danny also Carl Meyer with his son I didn't realize he had two sons
07:21Owen Wilson he's a guy who you know it looks like you know he kind of looks like he's sort of like
07:28tripping through life you know kind of like stumbling into like oh wait I just showed up here
07:32wow and he actually is that's the thing you know sometimes people like you look they go well they
07:38do all this work to get there and to like behind the scenes and then they just but I think Owen
07:43just is that and he would probably appreciate that because he's um he's a great writer too
07:52Owen Wilson's a great writer Oscar nominated writer one of the funniest people I know
07:56it'd be funny to do something together again maybe we will actually and uh maybe we'll see
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