Ben Stiller and Director Shawn Levy Discuss "Night at the Museum"
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Ben, this is a very special movie for you and Anne Meara.
Ben Stiller: ?It was really fun to get a chance to work with my mom. And Shawn I think that was your idea wasn?t it, to cast my mom??
Shawn Levy: ?I remember Ben?s mom from Fame. I remember her as like the English teacher.?
Ben Stiller: ?The mean English Teacher.?
Shawn Levy: ?Leroy?s mean English teacher and I?ve literally loved her work since then.
When we needed someone to play this kind of forbidden employment officer who ultimately sees a glimmer of potential in this rascal, I thought that Anne could really play it. She did.?
Is this is the first time you two actually played in a scene together?
Ben Stiller: ?I think it is, yeah. We did some stuff a long time ago, like a cable TV show. My parents were on that all the time because they were parents and they were helping me out. My mom had a little thing where she appears and throws an egg in Zoolander, but this was the first time we did a scene together. It was really fun. It?s funny because we?ve got the same DNA and it?s interesting to go back and forth with someone you?re related to when you?re not playing mother and son. There?s a thing when I sort wink at her that we cut out. It was weird.?
Shawn Levy: ?Yeah it was officially too weird. It was definitely too weird.?
You seem comfortable in that ice hockey scene. Have you been on the ice before?
Ben Stiller: ?I have been playing ice hockey since I was two.
No, I don?t play hockey at all. I?m not comfortable on skates. I?ve had a problem with skates since I was about six. My parents took me to this sports camp in New York called Bill Day of Sports Camps. It was this place called Sky Rink in New York and I brought my skates. They said bring skates and I had the double-edge Brinker trainer skates. I was mocked by the counselor and ever since I?ve stayed off the ice. I wasn?t even on skates. What am I talking about? I was wearing my shoes.?
Shawn Levy: ?In fact, there was once a discussion about whether we should have Ben actually playing hockey in that scene that was nixed instantly.?
Ben Stiller: ?I nixed it.?
Ben, did you learn anything about history from the film?
Ben Stiller: ?Well I learned to speak Hun, which was great. That is actual Hun. It?s ancient Hun so you really can?t check it. I love history. I?m very interested by it and I think it?s great to have a movie that brings it alive in a way. It?s sort of that romanticized version of it. But that?s sort of like what you get into when you?re a kid. Then when you?re older you can learn the realities of history and then get depressed that more people have died in the name of God than anything else, and all that stuff. This is the fun version.?
Is there any particular timeframe in history you are personally interested in?
Ben Stiller: ?I?m very interested in the early American history, the time when the country came together. I?m also interested in ancient Rome. It?s funny, we were doing the international press and I told the guy I was interested in ancient Rome. Some guy, I?m not sure where he is from, says, ?Oh, you would like to be in the orgies?? (Laughing) That would be nice, to be in the orgies.?
Shawn Levy: ?I literally walked into the room and the opening question was, ?So, Ben Stiller was just talking about how he would like to be in an orgy. What do you have to say to that?? I had no idea they had set you up with that.?
Ben, are you recording Madagascar 2?
Ben Stiller: ?We?re starting to record it very soon.?
Where you do think that?s going to go? Your character already had a pretty full arc at the end of the first one.
Ben Stiller: ?Yeah. I think all the animals head back to New York on that plane that, you know, was up in the trees. Then they crash in Africa and Alex gets reacquainted with his real family and it goes from there.?
Shawn, are you going to do a Pink Panther 2?
Shawn Levy: ?I would say that it?s unlikely, but I wouldn?t rule it out. We?ll see if we get a script and we?ll ultimately see how it plays out.?
Why would it be unlikely?
Shawn Levy: ?Frankly, going into the release of Night of the Museum, this has been by far the most challenging movie I?ve made, certainly the most complex. I?m, for the first time in my career, quite content to sit back, take a breath and look at the horizon before I dive into the next thing.?
Ben, this is a very special movie for you and Anne Meara.
Ben Stiller: ?It was really fun to get a chance to work with my mom. And Shawn I think that was your idea wasn?t it, to cast my mom??
Shawn Levy: ?I remember Ben?s mom from Fame. I remember her as like the English teacher.?
Ben Stiller: ?The mean English Teacher.?
Shawn Levy: ?Leroy?s mean English teacher and I?ve literally loved her work since then.
When we needed someone to play this kind of forbidden employment officer who ultimately sees a glimmer of potential in this rascal, I thought that Anne could really play it. She did.?
Is this is the first time you two actually played in a scene together?
Ben Stiller: ?I think it is, yeah. We did some stuff a long time ago, like a cable TV show. My parents were on that all the time because they were parents and they were helping me out. My mom had a little thing where she appears and throws an egg in Zoolander, but this was the first time we did a scene together. It was really fun. It?s funny because we?ve got the same DNA and it?s interesting to go back and forth with someone you?re related to when you?re not playing mother and son. There?s a thing when I sort wink at her that we cut out. It was weird.?
Shawn Levy: ?Yeah it was officially too weird. It was definitely too weird.?
You seem comfortable in that ice hockey scene. Have you been on the ice before?
Ben Stiller: ?I have been playing ice hockey since I was two.
No, I don?t play hockey at all. I?m not comfortable on skates. I?ve had a problem with skates since I was about six. My parents took me to this sports camp in New York called Bill Day of Sports Camps. It was this place called Sky Rink in New York and I brought my skates. They said bring skates and I had the double-edge Brinker trainer skates. I was mocked by the counselor and ever since I?ve stayed off the ice. I wasn?t even on skates. What am I talking about? I was wearing my shoes.?
Shawn Levy: ?In fact, there was once a discussion about whether we should have Ben actually playing hockey in that scene that was nixed instantly.?
Ben Stiller: ?I nixed it.?
Ben, did you learn anything about history from the film?
Ben Stiller: ?Well I learned to speak Hun, which was great. That is actual Hun. It?s ancient Hun so you really can?t check it. I love history. I?m very interested by it and I think it?s great to have a movie that brings it alive in a way. It?s sort of that romanticized version of it. But that?s sort of like what you get into when you?re a kid. Then when you?re older you can learn the realities of history and then get depressed that more people have died in the name of God than anything else, and all that stuff. This is the fun version.?
Is there any particular timeframe in history you are personally interested in?
Ben Stiller: ?I?m very interested in the early American history, the time when the country came together. I?m also interested in ancient Rome. It?s funny, we were doing the international press and I told the guy I was interested in ancient Rome. Some guy, I?m not sure where he is from, says, ?Oh, you would like to be in the orgies?? (Laughing) That would be nice, to be in the orgies.?
Shawn Levy: ?I literally walked into the room and the opening question was, ?So, Ben Stiller was just talking about how he would like to be in an orgy. What do you have to say to that?? I had no idea they had set you up with that.?
Ben, are you recording Madagascar 2?
Ben Stiller: ?We?re starting to record it very soon.?
Where you do think that?s going to go? Your character already had a pretty full arc at the end of the first one.
Ben Stiller: ?Yeah. I think all the animals head back to New York on that plane that, you know, was up in the trees. Then they crash in Africa and Alex gets reacquainted with his real family and it goes from there.?
Shawn, are you going to do a Pink Panther 2?
Shawn Levy: ?I would say that it?s unlikely, but I wouldn?t rule it out. We?ll see if we get a script and we?ll ultimately see how it plays out.?
Why would it be unlikely?
Shawn Levy: ?Frankly, going into the release of Night of the Museum, this has been by far the most challenging movie I?ve made, certainly the most complex. I?m, for the first time in my career, quite content to sit back, take a breath and look at the horizon before I dive into the next thing.?
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