Ben Stiller Shares His Close Collabs With Robin Williams, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Aniston & More | THR Video - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

'Severance' executive producer and director Ben Stiller chats with The Hollywood Reporter about his close collabs. From filming with the late Robin Williams to working with major stars like Robert De Niro, Jennifer Aniston and more. He dishes on the reason he wanted to change Adam Scott's hairstyle in 'Severance,' when Will Ferrell improvised in 'Zoolander' and the first time he met Williams when he was 12 years old.

Transcript

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?

02:57What'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

Ben Stiller Shares His Close Collabs With Robin Williams, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Aniston & More | THR Video

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