The actor Ben Stiller called “one of the funniest people there is”
As the son of acting and comedy figures Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Ben Stiller always knew what good entertainment looked like and since he began his own profession career, the New York City-born star has surpassed the achievements of his parents and established himself as one of Hollywood’s most prominent names.
Stiller came through by writing a number of mockumentary movies and was eventually handed a sketch comedy series called The Ben Stiller Show after appearing on Saturday Night Live. A handful of directing efforts arrived before Stiller announced himself as one of the late 1990s/early 2000s comedy heroes of America, alongside fellow ‘Frat Pack’ members Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Jack Black and Vince Vaughn.
Comedy is simply Stiller’s arena, and he has contributed to some of the most memorable and hilarious movies of the 21st century, including Zoolander, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and Meet the Parents. Sure, Stiller has also featured in productions away from comedy, directing the TV show Severance and appearing in a number of Noah Baumbach movies, but it’s likely comedy for which he will always be known.
While Stiller has often drawn the praise of his many fans and his fellow comedians and actors, he has never stopped short of expressing his admiration for those he thinks are worthy. For instance, when speaking with the BBC about the 2004 romantic comedy film Along Came Polly, Stiller spoke highly of the comedy legend Hank Azaria.
Along Came Polly was written and directed by John Hamburg and saw Jennifer Aniston star alongside Stiller. Stiller plays a man whose life changes when he reconnects with and falls for his old classmate, but things are disrupted when his ex-wife tries to reconcile with him. Hank Azaria had a small role in the film as a French nudist, and Stiller absolutely loved being able to work with the American comedy icon.
“Hank is one of the funniest people there is, and one of the fun things in the movie was trying not to crack up while he did his thing,” Stiller explained. “Hank is one of those people who kept on doing what he was doing because his goal was to crack people up the whole time.”
He added, “I definitely didn’t want to be cracking up, but he was so funny. And his accent was so ridiculous. We were in Paris, and they really didn’t care for it.” It might have taken some bravery to pretend to be a Frenchman in the country’s capital, but it seems like Azaria was up to the task of humiliation.
Azaria is best known for his work on The Simpsons, in which he has voiced many of the show’s best characters, including Moe Syzslak, Superintendent Chalmers, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Snake Jailbird, Kirk Van Houten and Duffman. He had little voice acting experience when he joined The Simpsons in the first season, but he quickly established himself as one of the most important figures behind the show’s success.
Elsewhere, Azaria has also extended his talents to the movies Quiz Show, Godzilla, Run Fatboy Run and the TV shows Friends, Huff and Ray Donovan. To get such praise from a fellow comedy legend like Ben Stiller would have been a great source of pride for Azaria and he will have likely found as much joy as getting to appear with him in Along Came Polly as Stiller did.
