Ben Stiller Reveals ‘Zoolander 2’ Flop Left Him Blind for a ‘Long Time’

April 24, 2024

Ben Stiller was “blindsided” for “a long time” because his follow-up to ‘Zoolander’ was a turkey.

Ben Stiller was “blindsided” for a “long time” because his “Zoolander” sequel was a turkey

The 58-year-old actor, who wrote, produced, directed and starred in the follow-up to his 2001 male modeling farce in 2016, said he thought he had botched his career and lost the ability to do comedy when it was a commercial . and critical flop.

He told “The

“And then you think, ‘Wow, I must have really messed this up.’

“Not everyone went there. And it’s gotten terrible reviews.

“It really scared me because I was like, ‘I didn’t know it was that bad?’

“What scared me the most with that one was losing what I think is funny, questioning yourself… with ‘Zoolander 2’ it was absolutely blinding for me.

“And it certainly influenced me for a long time.”

“Zoolander 2,” which saw the return of Owen Wilson, 55, and Will Ferrell, 56, from the first film, earned just $29 million against a $50 million budget.

The sequel also featured celebrity cameos, including 30-year-old Justin Bieber and 39-year-old Katy Perry.

Ben said the failure gave him “space” to “kind of sit with myself and deal with it and other projects I had been working on”.

When he said he didn’t want to pursue anything new despite the failure, David – whose podcast will be available from May 7 – asked him if it was “anger” holding him back.

Ben replied: “It was just pain. Because I discovered myself in terms of what you want to be and do creatively, I always loved directing. I’ve always loved making films.

“In my mind, I always liked the idea of ​​just directing movies since I was a kid, and not necessarily comedies.”

Ben then directed the crime drama ‘Escape at Dannemora’ in 2018, for which he won a DGA Award for Outstanding Directing – Miniseries or TV Film.

In 2022, he also produced and directed the Emmy-nominated series “Severance.”