Ben Stiller

Acting

Ben Stiller

Born 1965-11-30 · New York City, New York, USA

Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known for his blend of slapstick humor and sharp wit, Stiller rose to fame through comedies such as There's Something About Mary (1998), Zoolander (2001), and Tropic Thunder (2008). Stiller is also known for his work in franchises such as the Meet the Parents films (2000–2010), the Madagascar franchise (2005–2012), and the Night at the Museum films (2006–2014). His films have grossed over $2.6 billion in Canada and the United States, with an average of $79 million per film.  His awards and honors include an Emmy Award, a Directors Guild of America Award, a Britannia Award and a Teen Choice Award. Stiller is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. He began his career writing mockumentaries and was offered a variety sketch series, The Ben Stiller Show, which he produced and hosted for its 13-episode run. The series ran on MTV in 1990 and  Fox in 1992 and 1993, earning him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Program. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known as the Frat Pack. Transitioning to acting in films, Stiller made his directorial debut with Reality Bites (1994) and went on to direct and star in films such as The Cable Guy (1996) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013). He also starred in a string of successful studio comedies, including Along Came Polly (2004), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), Starsky & Hutch (2004), and Tower Heist (2011). His performances in independent films include Flirting with Disaster (1996), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and the Noah Baumbach films Greenberg (2010), While We're Young (2014), and The Meyerowitz Stories (2017). Since the mid-2010s, Stiller has primarily worked as a television director and showrunner. In 2018, he directed the Showtime limited series Escape at Dannemora, earning a Directors Guild of America Award and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Limited Series and Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series. In 2022, he was a director and executive producer on the Apple TV+ series Severance, earning two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series.

Acting credits

Megamind poster
7.0

After Megamind, a highly intelligent alien supervillain, defeats his long-time nemesis Metro Man, Megamind creates a new hero to fight, but must act to save the city when his "creation" becomes an even worse villain than he was.

Megamind

2010

Madagascar poster
6.9

Four animal friends get a taste of the wild life when they break out of captivity at the Central Park Zoo and wash ashore on the island of Madagascar.

Madagascar

2005

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa poster
6.5

Alex, Marty, and other zoo animals find a way to escape from Madagascar when the penguins reassemble a wrecked airplane. The precariously repaired craft stays airborne just long enough to make it to the African continent. There the New Yorkers encounter members of their own species for the first time. Africa proves to be a wild place, but Alex and company wonder if it is better than their Central Park home.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

2008

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb poster
6.2

When the magic powers of The Tablet of Ahkmenrah begin to die out, Larry Daley spans the globe, uniting favorite and new characters while embarking on an epic quest to save the magic before it is gone forever.

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

2014

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted poster
6.6

Animal pals Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria are still trying to make it back to New York's Central Park Zoo. They are forced to take a detour to Europe to find the penguins and chimps who broke the bank at a Monte Carlo casino. When French animal-control officer Capitaine Chantel DuBois picks up their scent, Alex and company are forced to hide out in a traveling circus.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

2012

Tropic Thunder poster
6.7

A group of self-absorbed actors set out to make the most expensive war film ever. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys.

Tropic Thunder

2008

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty poster
7.2

A timid magazine photo manager who lives life vicariously through daydreams embarks on a true-life adventure when a negative goes missing.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

2013

Night at the Museum poster
6.6

Chaos reigns at the natural history museum when night watchman Larry Daley accidentally stirs up an ancient curse, awakening Attila the Hun, an army of gladiators, a Tyrannosaurus rex and other exhibits.

Night at the Museum

2006

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story poster
6.4

When megalomaniacal White Goodman, the owner of a trendy, high-end fitness center, makes a move to take over the struggling local gym run by happy-go-lucky Pete La Fleur, there's only one way for La Fleur to fight back: dodgeball. Aided by a dodgeball guru and Goodman's attorney, La Fleur and his rag-tag team of underdogs launch a knock-down, drag-out battle in which the winner takes all.

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story

2004

The Dink poster
6.2

Desperate to save a struggling country club and earn his father's respect, a washed-up tennis pro is compelled to break a sacred vow and do the unthinkable: play pickleball.

The Dink

2026

There's Something About Mary poster
6.6

For Ted, prom night went about as bad as it’s possible for any night to go. Thirteen years later, he finally gets another chance with his old prom date, only to run up against other suitors including the sleazy detective he hired to find her.

There's Something About Mary

1998

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian poster
6.2

Hapless museum night watchman Larry Daley must help his living, breathing exhibit friends out of a pickle now that they've been transferred to the archives at the Smithsonian Institution. Larry's (mis)adventures this time include close encounters with Amelia Earhart, Abe Lincoln and Ivan the Terrible.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

2009

Happy Gilmore poster
6.7

Failed hockey player-turned-golf whiz Happy Gilmore — whose unconventional approach and antics on the green courts the ire of rival Shooter McGavin — is determined to win a PGA tournament so he can save his granny's house with the prize money. Meanwhile, an attractive tour publicist tries to soften Happy's image.

Happy Gilmore

1996

Meet the Parents poster
6.7

Greg Focker is ready to marry his girlfriend, Pam, but before he pops the question, he must win over her formidable father, humorless former CIA agent Jack Byrnes, at the wedding of Pam's sister. As Greg bends over backward to make a good impression, his visit to the Byrnes home turns into a hilarious series of disasters, and everything that can go wrong does, all under Jack's critical, hawklike gaze.

Meet the Parents

2000

Meet the Fockers poster
6.3

Hard-to-crack ex-CIA man Jack Byrnes and his wife Dina head for the warmer climes of Florida to meet the parents of their son-in-law-to-be, Greg Focker. Unlike their happily matched offspring, the future in-laws find themselves in a situation of opposites that definitely do not attract.

Meet the Fockers

2004

Zoolander poster
6.2

Clear the runway for Derek Zoolander, VH1's three-time male model of the year. His face falls when hippie-chic Hansel scooters in to steal this year's award. The evil fashion guru Mugatu seizes the opportunity to turn Derek into a killing machine. It's a well-designed conspiracy and only with the help of Hansel and a few well-chosen accessories like Matilda can Derek make the world safe for male models everywhere.

Zoolander

2001

Tower Heist poster
6.1

A luxury condo manager leads a staff of workers to seek payback on the Wall Street swindler who defrauded them. With only days until the billionaire gets away with the perfect crime, the unlikely crew of amateur thieves enlists the help of petty crook Slide to steal the $20 million they’re sure is hidden in the penthouse.

Tower Heist

2011

The Royal Tenenbaums poster
7.5

Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary --- all geniuses. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. Most of this was generally considered to be their father's fault. "The Royal Tenenbaums" is the story of the family's sudden, unexpected reunion one recent winter.

The Royal Tenenbaums

2001

Happy Gilmore 2 poster
6.5

Happy Gilmore isn't done with golf — not by a long shot. Since his retirement after his first Tour Championship win, Gilmore returns to finance his daughter's ballet classes.

Happy Gilmore 2

2025

Little Fockers poster
5.7

It has taken 10 years, two little Fockers with wife Pam and countless hurdles for Greg to finally get in with his tightly wound father-in-law, Jack. After the cash-strapped dad takes a job moonlighting for a drug company, Jack's suspicions about his favorite male nurse come roaring back. When Greg and Pam's entire clan descends for the twins' birthday party, Greg must prove to the skeptical Jack that he's fully capable as the man of the house.

Little Fockers

2010

The Watch poster
5.6

Four everyday suburban guys come together as an excuse to escape their humdrum lives one night a week. But when they accidentally discover that their town has become overrun with aliens posing as ordinary suburbanites, they have no choice but to save their neighborhood – and the world – from total extermination.

The Watch

2012

Zoolander 2 poster
4.9

Derek and Hansel are modelling again when an opposing company attempts to take them out from the business.

Zoolander 2

2016

Dear Santa poster
6.2

Likeable 6th grader Liam writes to Santa asking him to prove that he's real. But Liam is dyslexic and accidentally sends his letter to Satan instead, who shows up at Liam's house, excited to have his first fanboy letter and wanting a little of Liam's soul.

Dear Santa

2024

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy poster
6.7

It's the 1970s and San Diego anchorman Ron Burgundy is the top dog in local TV, but that's all about to change when ambitious reporter Veronica Corningstone arrives as a new employee at his station.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

2004

Behind the camera

Tropic Thunder poster
6.7

A group of self-absorbed actors set out to make the most expensive war film ever. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys.

Tropic Thunder

2008

Tropic Thunder poster
6.7

A group of self-absorbed actors set out to make the most expensive war film ever. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys.

Tropic Thunder

2008

Tropic Thunder poster
6.7

A group of self-absorbed actors set out to make the most expensive war film ever. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys.

Tropic Thunder

2008

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty poster
7.2

A timid magazine photo manager who lives life vicariously through daydreams embarks on a true-life adventure when a negative goes missing.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

2013

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty poster
7.2

A timid magazine photo manager who lives life vicariously through daydreams embarks on a true-life adventure when a negative goes missing.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

2013

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story poster
6.4

When megalomaniacal White Goodman, the owner of a trendy, high-end fitness center, makes a move to take over the struggling local gym run by happy-go-lucky Pete La Fleur, there's only one way for La Fleur to fight back: dodgeball. Aided by a dodgeball guru and Goodman's attorney, La Fleur and his rag-tag team of underdogs launch a knock-down, drag-out battle in which the winner takes all.

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story

2004

The Dink poster
6.2

Desperate to save a struggling country club and earn his father's respect, a washed-up tennis pro is compelled to break a sacred vow and do the unthinkable: play pickleball.

The Dink

2026

Why Him? poster
6.4

A dad forms a bitter rivalry with his daughter's young rich boyfriend.

Why Him?

2016

Zoolander poster
6.2

Clear the runway for Derek Zoolander, VH1's three-time male model of the year. His face falls when hippie-chic Hansel scooters in to steal this year's award. The evil fashion guru Mugatu seizes the opportunity to turn Derek into a killing machine. It's a well-designed conspiracy and only with the help of Hansel and a few well-chosen accessories like Matilda can Derek make the world safe for male models everywhere.

Zoolander

2001

Zoolander poster
6.2

Clear the runway for Derek Zoolander, VH1's three-time male model of the year. His face falls when hippie-chic Hansel scooters in to steal this year's award. The evil fashion guru Mugatu seizes the opportunity to turn Derek into a killing machine. It's a well-designed conspiracy and only with the help of Hansel and a few well-chosen accessories like Matilda can Derek make the world safe for male models everywhere.

Zoolander

2001

Zoolander poster
6.2

Clear the runway for Derek Zoolander, VH1's three-time male model of the year. His face falls when hippie-chic Hansel scooters in to steal this year's award. The evil fashion guru Mugatu seizes the opportunity to turn Derek into a killing machine. It's a well-designed conspiracy and only with the help of Hansel and a few well-chosen accessories like Matilda can Derek make the world safe for male models everywhere.

Zoolander

2001

Zoolander 2 poster
4.9

Derek and Hansel are modelling again when an opposing company attempts to take them out from the business.

Zoolander 2

2016

Zoolander 2 poster
4.9

Derek and Hansel are modelling again when an opposing company attempts to take them out from the business.

Zoolander 2

2016

Zoolander 2 poster
4.9

Derek and Hansel are modelling again when an opposing company attempts to take them out from the business.

Zoolander 2

2016

The Cable Guy poster
6.0

When recently single Steven moves into his new apartment, cable guy Chip comes to hook him up—and doesn't let go. Initially, Chip is just overzealous in his desire to be Steven's pal, but when Steven tries to end the 'friendship', Chip shows his dark side. He begins stalking Steven, who's left to fend for himself because no one else can believe Chip's capable of such behaviour.

The Cable Guy

1996

Blades of Glory poster
6.1

When a much-publicized ice-skating scandal strips them of their gold medals, two world-class athletes skirt their way back onto the ice via a loophole that allows them to compete together as a pairs team.

Blades of Glory

2007

Focker-in-Law poster
NR

Henry, son of Greg and Pam Focker, faces family chaos when he decides to marry a strong-willed woman who appears to be his complete mismatch.

Focker-in-Law

2026

Duplex poster
6.1

When a young couple buys their dream home, they have no idea what the sweet little old lady upstairs is going to put them through!

Duplex

2003

30 Minutes or Less poster
5.8

Two fledgling criminals kidnap a pizza delivery guy, strap a bomb to his chest, and advise him that he has mere hours to rob a bank or else...

30 Minutes or Less

2011

Queenpins poster
6.5

Bored and frustrated suburban homemaker Connie and her best pal JoJo, a vlogger with dreams, turn a hobby into a multi-million-dollar counterfeit coupon caper. After firing off a letter to the conglomerate behind a box of cereal gone stale, and receiving an apology along with dozens of freebies, the duo hatch an illegal coupon club scheme that scams millions from mega-corporations and delivers deals to legions of fellow coupon clippers. On the trail to total coupon dominance, a hapless Loss Prevention Officer from the local supermarket chain joins forces with a determined U.S. Postal Inspector in hot pursuit of these newly minted “Queenpins” of pink collar crime.

Queenpins

2021

Reality Bites poster
6.5

A small circle of friends suffering from post-collegiate blues must confront the hard truth about life, love and the pursuit of gainful employment. As they struggle to map out survival guides for the future, the Gen-X quartet soon begins to realize that reality isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Reality Bites

1994

The Package poster
5.9

When a group of teenagers goes on a spring break camping trip, an unfortunate accident sets off a race to save their friend’s most prized possession.

The Package

2018

Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost poster
6.5

Ben Stiller tells the story of his parents—comedy icons Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara—exploring their impact on popular culture and at home, where the lines between creativity, family, life, and art often blurred.

Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost

2025

Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost poster
6.5

Ben Stiller tells the story of his parents—comedy icons Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara—exploring their impact on popular culture and at home, where the lines between creativity, family, life, and art often blurred.

Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost

2025