Ben Stiller Quotes

“I don’t devalue comedy as compared to drama. Not one bit.”

“I don’t have a burning desire to be taken seriously as an actor. I don’t have a master plan in that way.”

“I grew up wanting to make movies, and along the way I suddenly found that I had a career doing comedy.”

“I have a lot of nervous energy. Work is my best way of channelling that into something productive unless I want to wind up assaulting the postman or gardener.”

“I know that I'm better as an actor when I'm working with a good actor. I think anytime you're working with a better actor, it makes you a better actor.”

“I studied Tom Cruise running in all the Mission Impossibles. I think he's one of the best screen runners.”

“I was a bad student. I liked archaeology actually, I was interested in maybe becoming an archaeologist but I was such a bad student and had such bad grades that I wasn't going to get into any really good college so I fell back on acting.”

“I would like to do more dramas when I find a good role that will allow me to politely upset people’s expectations of me as a comic actor.”

“I'm just not a naturally cheery person. I'm naturally moody. I know that from people who spend a lot of time with me. People who spend a lot of time with me may not wish to spend a lot more time with me.”

“I've had a very good career and I'm grateful that the public has had some level of acceptance and appreciation of my work.”

“It's hard to maintain a sense of dignity in an audition. I have done so many auditions where I've put it out there and have been met with that kind of blank stare - "Great! Thanks! OK! Great work! Thanks for coming in!" At the door I'm thinking, 'What the hell am I doing with my life?'”

“Maybe forced retirement isn’t necessary after all.”

“People like to define you through what they've seen you do. There are aspects of my personality, I guess, that come through on-screen, but I don't sit around thinking, 'I've been a bumbling suitor all my life.'”

“Success doesn't necessarily mean happiness.”

“There's an old saying in Hollywood: It's not the length of your film, it's how you use it.”

“There’s always an element of fear that you need to work a lot until people get sick and tired of you or finally figure out that you’re a fraud after all.”

“When I didn't have a family, I was much more of a workaholic. I still like to work, but I also want to be home with them. As you get older, you realize you need balance. If it's not fun, what's the point?”

“You're freaked out that you're going to be having a child, and once you're looking after your daughter, it's the most beautiful thing in the world.”

“I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. And I plan on finding out what that is.”

“Words can only hurt you if you try to read them. Don't play their game!”

“I don't need a compass to tell me which way the wind shines!”

“God was showing off when he made you.”