Ben Stiller has a vivid memory of his very first scene with Robert De Niro in the cult comedy “My Stepfather and Me”. A sequence where he couldn’t suppress a fit of laughter!
In the category of legendary comedic face-offs, there is one that is impossible to forget: the one featuring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro in the My Stepfather and Me saga. An irresistible “confrontation” of which one of the great qualities is the brilliant counter-productive performance of the star of Goodfellas.
On the occasion of the Tribeca Film Festival, including Robert de Niro is one of the founders, Ben Stiller remembered his first scene with the actor on the set of My stepfather and I (a sequence of which was censored by the CIA). A remarkable moment since he literally burst out laughing in the face of the legendary Bob because of the latter’s famous expression tic!
“The first scene I shot with Robert DeNiro In My stepfather and Iit was the scene of the first meeting between our two characters, and he did something…“, tell Ben Stiller In comments reported by Deadline.
“It’s the last thing in the world I wanted to do in front of De Niro”
“I was very nervous and he did his little thing De Niro“Stiller continues, referring to the expression tic that you have probably all tried to reproduce one day. “I then burst out laughing in his face, which was the last thing in the world I wanted to do in front of him. Robert DeNiro by filming a scene with him. But it has this effect on people, because it’s Robert DeNiro.”
Released in theaters in 2001, the hilarious My stepfather and I tells the story of Greg Focker (Ben Stiller), a modest nurse who has been living with Pam for two months and dreams of formalizing their union. Delighted with his proposal, the young woman insists on strict compliance with bourgeois rules: Greg will have to obtain the agreement of his father Jack (Robert DeNiro), former CIA agent. Cold, tense, possessive and paranoid, the latter is determined not to “give up” his darling daughter to anyone who comes along.
Great public success with more than 1.8 million spectators in French cinemas, My stepfather and I had two sequels, My Stepfather, My Parents and Me and My Stepfather and Us, released in 2004 and 2010 respectively.
False Connection: the blunders and errors of “My stepfather and me”
