Ben Stiller has just presented his personal vision of what it’s like to have famous parents, as well as the term ‘nepo baby’ that follows many star children throughout their lives.
The conversation itself took place on The Howard Stern Show and showed that the star was sincere.
What is also pertinent to mention is that Stiller has just recently released a documentary about his famous parents, titled Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost.
In that talk he began by praising that term, rather than dismissing it because for Stiller the nickname is more of a “selling point” than anything else.
“I think it’s kind of like that Brat Pack thing, right?” He also pointed out. “New York magazine coined a phrase and then it became a thing.”
“But it’s always been what it is, in humanity and in life. It’s like if you buy a violin, a Stradivarius or whatever, it’s been in the family for hundreds of years. That’s a selling point.”
However, he made sure to point out that there are “other arguments that can be made about access and all that stuff,” although he also saw the less glamorous, and sometimes also bad, sides of that spotlight while growing up.
“For me, I think growing up around this, we’re talking about all these things that I saw with my parents, actually, as a child, you see the dark side of this. The stress, the effects it has on relationships. You see it up close as a child, and then you still want to delve into it,” he also admitted during that talk.
During that talk, he also recalled how his mother’s influence affected his first acting job, which was an Off-Broadway production called House of Blue Leaves.
He explained that he didn’t make it alone and that “he couldn’t get in because the casting director didn’t want to see me,” but the final call was like “a favor” from his mother.
But anyway, before concluding he decided to add: “if you have the passion, you do it. Go for it.”
