Ben Stiller is no lesser-known actor. Having starred in a number of extremely well-known projects, with some examples being Zoolander, Night at the Museum, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and Tropical Thunder, he can be easily put in the category of some of the most famous and successful names in Hollywood. On top of being an actor, he is also a comedian as well as a filmmaker, having a hand behind the scenes, in some of his most successful films.
Being as successful as he is, one would expect him to be known for these works. Unfortunately, however, this is not the case as Stiller is often not recognized as himself, being confused with another A-list actor, Adam Sandler.
Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller Look Similar
It is quite common for actors who look similar to be confused with each other out in public. This was the case for Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller, who both face this problem on a regular basis. Sandler, who is one of the most well-recognized faces in Hollywood, having starred in projects like The Murder Mystery series, Blended, and Just Go With It, did an interview with Variety alongside actress, Jennifer Lawrence, who spoke on this exact subject. The actor started off by explaining how the film The Meyerowitz Stories came to be.
“You know Ben Stiller? The actor. He’s been in many movies. Well, I know Ben a long time and I went to see him and I said ‘We gotta do a movie together man.’ He said ‘Yes, yes.’ I said ‘We should play brothers. I always hear that I look like you.’ and he said he hears people scream Zohan at him and stuff.”
He explained that this happened when he met with Stiller for the first time, revealing how the conversation went. Sandler started off by telling Stiller they should do a film together as brothers as they look extremely similar. He mentions that oftentimes, fans confuse him to be the Zoolander actor. To this, Stiller told him that people would often call him Zohan, referring to Sandler’s 2008 film, You Don’t Mess with The Zohan.
The Two Did End Up Playing Brothers
Soon after this conversation, as he told Variety, Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller the critically acclaimed director and screenwriter, Noah Baumbach, got involved and was looking to make a film. The three had a conversation about a project where Stiller and Sandler could play brothers. Though Baumbach told the two that he had a film exactly like this, he ended up going home and creating a masterpiece exactly as the two wanted.
“So anyway we said we should do a movie as brothers and then Noah Baumbach was saying he had a movie coincidentally about us playing brothers. So we all hung out one afternoon and then talked about it and then Noah wrote the movie. I don’t know how the hell he did that.”
Over the course of a year, the film came into shape, becoming an extreme success for many reasons, including its deeply flushed-out characters, As well as the dramatic elements that were written and executed perfectly, being critically acclaimed with a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
