Ben Stiller, the household name who has been in scores of movies and television shows; has recently made his way back to the Broadway stage, in a revival of The House of Blue Leaves.
This is the second time Stiller has performed this play on the Broadway Stage. In the 80’s, the struggling young actor in New York, had heard about the production and was eager to audition for the production. With all his efforts he still could not get an audition. “The casting director had seen me in something and didn’t think I was right,” he recalls. “So I asked my mom — the only time I asked my mom to help me.”
Ann Meara, Stiller’s mother, had been one of the original off-Broadway cast members of “The House of Blue Leaves” in 1971. Knowing the playwright, John Guare, she called on behalf of her son and was able to get him in the room. “That’s the last thing you want to do in the world as an actor. You know the deck is stacked against you and that it’s a favor,” said Stiller. “But I really, really wanted the opportunity on it.”
via ABC
