Ben Stiller says “Tropic Thunder” can be far too “dicey” of a prospect for immediately’s local weather.
Stiller was celebrated for co-writing, directing, co-producing and starring within the 2008 comedy, which satirized warfare films and mocked the self-centered nature of sure actors who really consider they’re altering the world.
The movie starred Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus, a fictional Australian actor who makes use of blackface to painting an African-American soldier, which was definitely controversial on the time — however additionally earned him a Golden Globe, Display screen Actors Guild and Oscar nod.
When requested by Collider if the movie may even get made immediately, nevertheless, Stiller stated merely: “I doubt it.”
“Obviously, in this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do,” he continued within the interview, printed Sunday. “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.”
Stiller credited Steven Spielberg for making it occur. He stated that whereas it was “a very inside movie” for portraying meddling studio heads and manufacturing points, the DreamWorks Footage co-founder “read it and was like, ‘Alright, let’s make this thing.’”
“But yeah, the idea of Robert playing that character who’s playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey,” added Stiller. “Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too. The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on — actors trying to do anything to win awards. But 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.”
Dave Hogan by way of Getty Photos
Downey himself just lately mirrored on the film on Rob Lowe’s “Literally!” podcast. He stated “Thunder” merely exposes “tropes that are not right and had been perpetuated for too long,” just like the minstrel exhibits that birthed blackface as a racist type of leisure.
He even slammed the brand new norm of streaming companies including disclaimers in entrance of older and culturally outdated applications, similar to “All in the Family,” and stated that there “used to be an understanding with an audience” that appears to have vanished.
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Stiller seems simply as decided to defend his work, and responded final yr to a social media person who mistakenly believed the director had apologized for the movie’s insensitive humor, sustaining that he makes “no apologies for Tropic Thunder.”
“Don’t know who told you that,” Stiller continued in his submit on X, previously Twitter, on the time. “It’s always been a controversial movie since when we opened. Proud of it and the work everyone did on it.”
