{"id":677735,"date":"2025-06-28T18:50:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T15:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ben-stiller-explains-why-this-was-the-right-time-to-revisit-meet-the-parents-life-informs-everything\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T18:50:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T15:50:26","slug":"ben-stiller-explains-why-this-was-the-right-time-to-revisit-meet-the-parents-life-informs-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ben-stiller-explains-why-this-was-the-right-time-to-revisit-meet-the-parents-life-informs-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Stiller Explains Why This Was the Right Time to Revisit \u2018Meet the Parents\u2019: \u201cLife Informs Everything\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tCasting for Meet the Parents 4<\/em> is well underway, with Owen Wilson the latest star to rejoin the franchise with Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Teri Polo in the upcoming film that also has Ariana Grande on board.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut why was this the right time to revisit Meet the Parents<\/em>? Stiller explained after a recent 25th anniversary screening of the original film at the 2025 Tribeca Festival.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think what spurred the idea was that at this point in time, I\u2019m the age that Bob [De Niro] was when we did the first movie,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd there was this sort of mirror to the first film in terms of the fact that my kids are grown. And, yeah, that my kid, one of my kids, is thinking about introducing his person to the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStiller, De Niro and Polo, who reunited with original director Jay Roach, who\u2019s set to produce the fourth film, for a Q&A after the Meet the Parents<\/em> screening at Tribeca, remained tightlipped about what else to expect, despite Stiller joking that he could tell the audience \u201cthe whole plot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNevertheless, The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> has learned that one part of the upcoming film revolves around the son of Stiller and Polo\u2019s characters getting engaged to a ball-busting woman (Grande) who seems all wrong for him.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs to whether Grande will get Stiller, De Niro and Co. singing and dancing, Stiller joked that the movie would be titled Wicked 3<\/em>, but De Niro indicated that it was unlikely he\u2019d be singing, given what happ<\/a>ened on a previous film in the series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn either the second or third film, De Niro recalled, \u201cWe tried to do a song or something that I was singing and [producing partner and Tribeca co-founder] Jane [Rosenthal] wasn\u2019t happy with it.\u201d They ended up cutting the scene.<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, De Niro teased that the script for Meet the Parents 4<\/em> is \u201creally good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s exciting that we\u2019re going to do it again and be together,\u201d Stiller said of Meet the Parents 4<\/em>. \u201cAnd I think life informs everything that\u2019s happened in the last 25 years, and it\u2019s been a while since we did the last one. \u2026 So, it\u2019s kind of great to look at it as a sort of a new thing. But of course, there\u2019s all these great memories, and I feel like our connections are still there when we get back together. It\u2019s just all baked in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDe Niro even said he tried to get the ball rolling on a fourth film when they were working on the third movie, Little Fockers<\/em>, which came out in 2010.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen we filmed the last one, I was with Ben and John [Hamburg, who co-wrote all three prior films in the franchise and is set to direct the upcoming movie] in my camper,\u201d he said, \u201cAnd I said, \u2018Let\u2019s start writing one now, to be ready for another one.\u2019 And they said, \u2018Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, sure.\u2019 They were humoring me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRoach was encouraged by how the upcoming film, just based on Hamburg\u2019s approach, seemed reminiscent of the first movie.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s always about the predicament,\u201d he said. \u201cI fell in love with that script, the first film script \u2026 because imagining what it\u2019s like when you care so much about winning the approval of someone, and you\u2019re right away going to start screwing it up, and the harder you try the worse you\u2019re going to make it. And I think that\u2019s what John has come up with again, and that\u2019s what always you need. That predicament is everything in a story. And I think in this one, John found a really great new predicament. I think everybody\u2019s going to love squirming through it.<\/p>\n

\n\tStiller added, \u201cThe audience has this history with the characters and they\u2019re going to bring that to the film too. So, there\u2019s something that\u2019s kind of emotional about it, I think, for me, for the actors, to the connection that people have with the movie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring the panel, Stiller was also reminded that his part in the first film originally was meant for someone else: Jim Carrey.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe comedy icon, who Stiller directed in the 1996 black comedy The Cable Guy<\/em>, was originally set to star in the film with Steven Spielberg planning to direct. Carrey even came up with the Focker last name. But after Spielberg and Carrey left the project, Roach and Stiller took on the director and lead actor roles, respectively.<\/p>\n

\n\tRemembering that turn of events, Stiller confirmed, \u201cJim Carrey was going to be me? Shit \u2026 I totally forgot that part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor his part, Carrey praised Stiller\u2019s performance in a 2008 interview with Larry King<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was perfect that Ben Stiller did it,\u201d Carrey said. \u201cWhen I saw it, I went, \u2018That\u2019s the way it\u2019s supposed to be done.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStiller did remember getting the call offering him the part, indicating that De Niro\u2019s involvement was part of what made him say yes.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI was on like the 5 freeway or something in L.A.\u201d he recalled. \u201cI think you [to Roach] called me up and said, like, \u2018Robert De Niro wants to do the movie,\u2019 and I was like, \u2018He wants to do the movie with me? \u2026 Well, yeah.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRoach tried to reassure Stiller that he was the first choice.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think you turned it down before,\u201d Roach told Stiller. \u201cAnd then I went back to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd Stiller ended up being well-suited for the role, as he explained that the film unintentionally mirrored his life around the same time, as he was dating his now-wife Christine Taylor and found himself ready to propose and ask for her father\u2019s permission.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was while we were in rehearsals for the movie. And her parents lived in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and her dad owned a security company,\u201d Stiller recalled. \u201cWe had to go back for her grandfather\u2019s funeral, and I think I found myself in the basement of her house with her father after the funeral telling him that I loved his daughter. It was good research for the movie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPolo was cast relatively late, a few days before filming began, Roach revealed, with the actress sharing more about her whirlwind experience of joining the film after getting the call while she was in an elaborate Halloween costume and quickly finding herself in rehearsal.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf I remember correctly, I think it was Halloween. It was a Sunday, and I was in full Halloween get-up. I was a vampire laying in a coffin, and I got a phone call \u2026 from my agent about five o\u2019clock saying they wanted me to be on a red eye tonight for a screen test tomorrow with Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller. There\u2019s going to be a cast read-through first, but then you\u2019re going to do the screen test, and it\u2019s the first time in my life I was speechless,\u201d Polo recalled. \u201cI had about three hours sleep \u2026 I remember saying to myself, \u2018If I don\u2019t give everything, if I mess this up, I will never forgive myself. I will never have this chance again.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter two more days of rehearsal, Polo was finally told she got the part before having to quickly go home on a Saturday night to come back on Sunday and start making the movie on Monday.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition to holding onto memories and forming a close bond with the cast, Polo also had a lingering connection to one of the cats who played the memorable Jinx family pet. The trained animal was on the verge of retirement, and Polo\u2019s mother ended up adopting it.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe cast and Roach were asked about their favorite lines, with the early dinner, in which Stiller\u2019s character describes milking a cat, getting a couple of shout-outs. But though fans may love De Niro\u2019s \u201cI have nipples, Greg, could you milk me,\u201d De Niro himself has a different favorite line.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat quote comes from when his overprotective father character thinks that Stiller\u2019s character has been smoking pot and threatens him by saying, among other things, \u201cI will bring you down to Chinatown.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDe Niro couldn\u2019t remember if the line was scripted or ad-libbed, but Stiller knew what happened and reminded his co-star that Hamburg rewrote the scene and when De Niro got the revised script, he read it and nodded approvingly.<\/p>\n

\n\tMeet the Parents 4<\/em> is set to be released on Nov. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Casting for Meet the Parents 4 is well underway, with Owen Wilson the latest star to rejoin the franchise with Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Teri Polo in the upcoming film that also has Ariana Grande on board. But why was this the right time to revisit Meet the Parents? Stiller explained after a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":677736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/MSDMETH_EC023.jpg?w=1296&h=730&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[8549,155316,157372,19801,157373,50538,156885,142545],"class_list":["post-677735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-ben-stiller","tag-jay-roach","tag-meet-the-parents","tag-robert-de-niro","tag-teri-polo","tag-tribeca","tag-tribeca-2025","tag-tribeca-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}