(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Fri 16 January 2026 17:45, UK
In a career that stretches back almost 40 years, Ben Stiller has constantly found himself surrounded by some of the most storied actors and filmmakers in the business, many of whom could (and have) been called geniuses by their fans, friends, and peers.
It’s a word that gets lobbed around a little too often these days, though, but when Stiller has worked with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Christopher Walken, Robert De Niro, Wes Anderson, Gene Hackman, David Bowie, Robin Williams, and more, there are plenty of candidates to earn the distinction.
However, it’s none of them, not that it disqualifies them from the conversation. As an actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer who’s worked in film, television, sketch comedy, animation, video games, and music videos, Stiller has seen almost everything the entertainment industry has to offer, and what it takes to make it to the top.
He was always destined to get into the family business, but he’s more than distanced himself from the shadows cast by his famous parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. From his overconfident beginnings, trying to tell Spielberg how to do his job on Empire of the Sun, to everyone’s ongoing obsession with Severance, he’s also proven himself an incredibly versatile talent.
As for the genius? Stiller has worked with them twice, almost two decades apart, in writer and director James Toback’s forgotten crime drama, Black and White, and his self-directed comic blockbuster, Tropic Thunder. While his performance has come under renewed criticism since 2008, that didn’t dissuade the parody’s director from awarding Robert Downey Jr the highest praise possible.
“I really do feel like that’s the word for him,” Stiller mused to Esquire. “Although a genius is someone who might not have to work as hard, and Robert works incredibly hard.” He certainly worked hard to get into character as Kirk Lazarus, a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude, in Tropic Thunder, and earned himself an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actor’.
Could the film be made in the same way today, with Downey Jr playing the same role? Probably not, but that doesn’t necessarily make his performance offensive. After all, the entire point of the multi-time Oscar-winning thespian taking the part is to poke fun at the self-absorption of egomaniacal actors who crave acclaim and shiny trophies, regardless of the whole blackface thing.
Is the Iron Man and Oppenheimer star a genius? Stiller thinks so, as does Woody Harrelson. Even if you disagree, it’s hard to argue against him being one of the most naturally gifted actors of the modern era, even if he did spend his wilderness years trying everything he could to not maximise that potential.
Even in his Marvel years, Downey Jr didn’t make enough movies outside of his superhero sandbox to make the most of his talents, but now that those days are almost over, hopefully, the latest post-Oppenheimer act of his career could be the most exciting yet, provided he manages to stay away from comic book adaptations after his Avengers return.
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