Ben Stiller has spoken out about one of his most controversial movies.
Stiller has starred in a series of hit movies over the course of his decades-long career, some personal favorites being Night at the Museum, Meet the Fockers, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
But one of his movies was a little more 'dicey', as Stiller himself described it, and had it been made today it's likely it wouldn't have been as well received.
The movie in question is 2008's Tropic Thunder and, despite it's controversial themes, it still boasts 82 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Robert Downey Jr. starred alongside Stiller in the comedy and wears blackface as his character of Kirk Lazarus.
Downey Jr. discussed Tropic Thunder last year and defended the movie.
Stiller has discussed the movie in the past too, but in a recent interview with Collider he explained that those kind of comedies are now 'harder to do'.
When asked if Tropic Thunder could be made today, the award-winning actor said: "I doubt it. Obviously, in this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do. Definitely not at the scale we made it at, too, in terms of the economics of the business."
"I think even at the time we were fortunate to get it made, and I credit that, actually, to Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks," Stiller went on.
"He read it and was like, 'Alright, let's make this thing.' It's a very inside movie when you think about it. But yeah, the idea of Robert playing that character who's playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey. Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too."
Addressing why they took the risk to make the film, the 58-year-old explained that those behind Tropic Thunder 'felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on' - that being actors doing anything and everything in a bid to win awards.
Stiller concluded: "Now, in this environment, I don't even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. I'm being honest."
Elsewhere in his conversation with Collider, Stiller discussed reviving his Happy Gilmore character Hal L for the upcoming sequel.
It was announced back in March that the well-loved movie was finally getting a follow-up film.
"I'm always ready to play Hal L," said Stiller.
"You don't get the opportunity to play Hal L that often."
Happy Gilmore 2 is expected to be released some time next year.
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, News
Niamh Shackleton