Why Ben Stiller walked away from ‘Saturday Night Live’ to bet on himself: “Ballsy as hell”
He might have a current hit on his hands with Severance, the Apple TV+ show he directs, but comedy courses through the veins of Ben Stiller. His father, Jerry Stiller, was a comedian and actor, perhaps best known for his role as Frank Costanza, George’s dad on Seinfeld. His mother, Anne Meara, was part of a double act with Jerry, and had parts on shows like Archie Bunker’s Place and ALF. It’s no surprise that their son would go on to star in some of the best-loved comedy movies of the late 1990s and 2000s.
Like many of his fellow famous funny-folk, Stiller owes at least a portion of his success to Saturday Night Live. The iconic series aired a short film he’d made, which sent up Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money in 1987. Later, he was offered a contract to write for the show and appear on screen as a feature player. He joined SNL in its 14th season, sharing a dressing room with the likes of Jon Lovitz, Dana Carvey and Jan Hooks. Most people would cling to this opportunity for all it was worth. Not Ben, though.
Stiller left SNL after just four episodes. He’d wanted to make more shorts, like the one that had gotten him noticed in the first place. He was told no, so he packed his bags and walked away. Bob Odenkirk, who was working for SNL as a writer in those days, recalled how crazy he thought this was to The Hollywood Reporter (THR). “He was ballsy as hell to walk away from SNL,” he said. “To be able to say with confidence about himself and his career, ‘This isn’t going to work for me. I have to leave here.’”
Having just waved goodbye to an institution of American comedy – which is getting a UK version in 2026 – Stiller needed to make something that proved he’d made the right call. He settled on Elvis Stories, another short film, this time about a range of fake sightings of the departed King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The film, which featured the likes of John Cusack and Mike Myers, was a hit and ended up catching the attention of MTV.
The network offered him a slot, which he filled with the imaginatively-titled The Ben Stiller Show. The series moved to Fox for its second season and aired a selection of short sketches the star had filmed with various cast members and guest stars. Unlike SNL, these skits weren’t performed in front of a live audience, allowing the fledgling director to experiment with camerawork, editing, and other post-production magic. The Ben Stiller Show didn’t exactly pull in the ratings, but it put its namesake on the right track.
The pre-recorded aspect of his own show made a huge difference to Stiller when compared to SNL. “I just knew that I wasn’t a great live performer,” he told THR. “It got me nervous. I get stressed out even thinking about it, and making movies is the opposite of that. You get to do it over and over again.”
SNL might have given Stiller a major platform early in his career, but he ended up succeeding almost in spite of it. He recognised his talents were better suited to a different format and, several decades and dozens of great movies later, he can hold his head up high and say he made the correct decision.
