Don't Forget Ben Stiller Comes From A Famous Family Of Actors
Ben Stiller raised quite a few eyebrows back in July 2021 when he waded in on the whole nepotism in Hollywood debate, sharing his pretty strong views on the subject. You may remember that Ben shared his thoughts in response to producer Franklin Leonard's take on the news that a slew of Hollywood offspring would be working on a project together. Responding to a tweet sharing that Hopper Penn, the son of Sean Penn, Desty Spielberg, the daughter of Steven Spielberg, and Owen King, son of Stephen King, had teamed up, he asked, "Hollywood's a meritocracy, right?"
Ben clearly wasn't having any of that, though. The "Meet the Parents" actor hit back in a tweet of his own. "Too easy @franklinleonard," he wrote. "People, working, creating. Everyone has their path. Wish them all the best." That inspired Leonard to respond, "I do, without fail, but I also think it's important that we acknowledge those paths," to which Ben replied, "@franklinleonard Yes. Just speaking from experience, and I don't know any of them, I would bet they all have faced challenges. Different than those with no access to the industry. Show biz as we all know is pretty rough, and ultimately is a meritocracy." Ben's comments received some mixed reactions, with his remarks also dividing opinion among the co-hosts of "The View."
But it turns out Ben has quite the history when it comes to the nepotism debate. Step forward, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.
Ben Stiller had two very famous parents
In case you didn't know, Ben Stiller has some very famous parents. His dad is none other than the late Jerry Stiller, who you may recognize from his roles in "The King of Queens" and "Seinfeld." He also appeared alongside his son in several movies, including "Zoolander" and "Hot Pursuit." As for Ben's mom, she's the late Anne Meara, who enjoyed a very impressive career of her own in big TV and movie projects. You may recognize Meara from "Sex and the City" or "All My Children," while she also starred alongside her husband in several episodes of "The King of Queens." Jerry and Meara worked so well together, they even formed their own comedy duo.
Ben has been very open about how much his parents, and particularly his dad, supported his dreams to become an actor just like them. "He came to everything. He was a very, very supportive dad," Ben shared on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" in May 2020, shortly after Jerry's death. "The first job I had was a play in New York, 'The House of Blue Leaves' and it ran for a while on Broadway and I had a small part in it. He would do what they call second acting, which is, you know, you come in with the second act," he continued. "He'd do that all the time because he just wanted to watch and enjoy it."
Ben Stiller admires his parents' work
It turns out that, like the rest of us, Ben Stiller is a big fan of his parents' work. The actor opened up about his favorite Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara projects on "Watch What Happens Live" in June 2022, sharing, "I think for my dad, I think I'd probably say 'The Taking of Pelham One Two Three,' the movie. Just because it's a great movie and he's really funny in it and it's a cool role and he was a good actor and he didn't do a lot of roles like that." He then turned his attention to his mom, explaining, "Acting-wise, the movie 'Fame,' where she plays the mean English teacher. She's really good in that movie, too. And then, of course, together they did so much."
But, back to that nepotism drama for a second, because that discussion hasn't exactly gone away. In fact, amid much discussion about nepotism inspired by a Variety piece on the subject, Steve Martin playfully called out fellow actor Ben in Pepsi's hilarious 2023 Super Bowl ad. After Ben called Martin a "banjo player," he jokingly clapped back, "nepo baby."