Ben Stiller Talks 'Submarine'

Ben Stiller, current starring in Broadway's HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES, is producing an indie film titled "Submarine" which is set to open this weekend.

Stiller, famous for his roles in films such as "Meet the Fockers" and "Night at the Museum," is producing the romantic comedy which tells the story of Oliver, a Welsh high school misfit as he navigates a life full of bullies, parents, and romance.

In a recent NY Daily News article, Stiller, 45, said that when his Production Company in L.A. received the script adaptation of a novel by Joe Dunthorne, he connected to it immediately.

"We were very lucky, honestly. I take very little credit for doing anything except liking it," Stiller says. "Sensibility is the key to doing a movie when the subject matter has been done before and done well - it's the interpretation of it that's going to be unique about it.

"It felt early on that (screenwriter-director) Richard Ayoade had a very clear sense of what's important to him. He has a very wry, cynical sense of humor, which I love."

Stiller said he can remember being a 10-year-old with a Super 8 camera making his own film in New York City. "I can associate with Oliver in that way and that vision of the world," says Stiller.

Stiller shared his adolescent experiences with girls, saying, "My formative girl experiences were up in Nantucket. In the summers, we would go up there and when I was about 14, 15 years old, I would work in a shop called the Sunken Ship, which was a gift shop and also a scuba diving shop every summer. That's where I had all my coming-of-age experiences, around those little beach areas.

"I have a lot of memories of going out while my parents and I were up there, or going to the one movie theater on the island. I remember being very nervous about asking out this one girl who worked with me who I had a huge crush on. Of course, I only just thought about asking her; I never actually even spoke to her. And then she went out with somebody else.

"I never said a word to her. I learned an important lesson about girls - you have to actually communicate with them."

For the original article, click here.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos

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