Why Ben Stiller Hasn't Taken a Lead Role in Seven Years

Through the course of his decades-long career, Ben Stiller became known for big screen comedies such as There’s Something About Mary, Zoolander, and Dodgeball; as well as the Meet the Parents and Night at the Museum franchises. But in recent years, the 58-year-old has taken a step back, taking on only smaller or supporting television and film roles.

So for the first time in seven years, Stiller is appearing in a lead role in the David Gordon Green comedy-drama Nutcrackers. The film sees Stiller as a smug, workaholic real estate professional who has to travel to rural Ohio for Christmas to help a child services worker find a home for his four recently orphaned nephews.

Speaking at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, where the film premiered on Thursday night, Stiller explained why it had been so long since he played a substantial acting role. (His last two lead roles were in The Meyerowitz Stories and Brad's Status, both in 2017.)

"I've been working on projects as a director and producer for a while, and wanting to act, but I kind of made the choice a few years ago that I was only going to do something if it really hit me," Stiller said following the screening, per Entertainment Weekly. "David emailed me one night, and for some reason I read it right way."

"Intuition hit me, there's something about this movie, I want to make this movie, I want to meet these kids," he explained. "I can't explain it to you, other than this feels like something I want to do and to work with David, knowing where he was coming from with it, it was such an organic, emotionally real place."

The film also stars a four real-life brothers, Homer, Ulysses, Atlas, and Arlo Janson as Stiller's nephews, none of whom have ever acted before. They all received standing ovations.

"I'm so happy that David called me about this movie. It's so from the heart, it's so organic, he sent me this email, and he said, I've got this idea and there are these four kids, they've never been in a movie before, but I think they're incredible," Stiller recalled. "I want to shoot at their farm in Ohio and there's going to be hogs and cats. I was like, all right! There's something so real about making this movie. It was unlike any experience I've ever had."

Nutcrackers also stars Linda Cardellini as the child services worker, along with Tim Heidecker, Edi Patterson, and Toby Huss. The film has yet to secure a distributor or confirm a release date, but will likely find its way to screens in 2025.