Although not quite as prevalent as Ben Stiller-Owen Wilson movie pairings, Stiller and Hank Azaria appear frequently together on the big screen. While Azaria usually portrays some quirky, heavily accented character, Stiller is generally the regular everyday guy – a good-natured, well-meaning type who gets pushed past the point of endurance until he’s forced to go to extremes.
One exception to Stiller’s likable everyman occurs in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004). He portrays White Goodman, a narcissistic fitness club owner, while Azaria is featured in a supporting role as the semi-sadistic Young Patches O’Houlihan, a dodgeball champion depicted in an old black-and-white instructional video.
The following list contains productions in which the two funny men have appeared together.
Films With Stiller and Azaria
Mystery Men (1999)
- A group of not-so-super superheroes attempts to save the city from an evil villain. The ensemble cast includes Azaria as The Blue Raja, Stiller as Mr. Furious, William H. Macy as The Shoveller, Kel Mitchell as The Invisible Boy, Paul Reubens as The Spleen, Janeane Garofalo as The Bowler, Greg Kinnear as Captain Amazing, and Geoffrey Rush as Casanova Frankenstein.
- Director: Kinka Usher
- Rating: PG-13 (for comic action violence and crude humor)
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
- A fitness club owner sets out to destroy the competition in this crude gross-out comedy, which also stars Vince Vaughn, Christine Taylor, Rip Torn, Justin Long, and Stephen Root.
- Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
- Rating: PG-13 (sexual content, drug references, language)
Along Came Polly (2004)
- A nervous newlywed (Stiller) gets dumped by his bride (Debra Messing) for a buff foreign scuba diving instructor (Azaria) she meets on their honeymoon. Jennifer Aniston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin, and Bryan Brown also star in this romantic comedy.
- Director: John Hamburg
- Rating: PG-13 (for sexual content, language, crude humor, and some drug references)
Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)
- Larry, an inventor and sometimes-security guard (Stiller), sneaks into the Smithsonian Institute to rescue some of his old friends from their unfortunate relocation. Azaria (who was not in the first installment of the film) also stars here as Kahmunrah and provides voices for the computer-animated characters The Thinker and Abraham Lincoln. The cast includes Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, and Christopher Guest.
- Director: Shawn Levy
- Rating: PG (for mild action and brief language)
Television Shows and Specials With Stiller and Azaria
Bar Mitzvah Bash! (2004)
- In addition to Stiller and Azaria, this star-filled celebration on Comedy Central also featured Sean Astin, Drew Barrymore, Jack Black, Lewis Black, Dave Chappelle, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Denis Leary, George Lopez, Bill Maher, Conan O’Brien, Ray Romano, David Spade, and Owen Wilson.
- Director: Andre Allen
The Simpsons
- In 2002, Stiller guest starred on the animated series as Garth Motherloving in an episode titled “Sweets and Sour Marge.” Azaria has co-starred on The Simpsons since 1989 as the voice of Chief Wiggum, Moe, Apu, Principal Skinner, and other characters.
- Series Creator: Matt Groening
To learn more about Ben Stiller, read Ben Stiller’s Zoolander on DVD.
Leslie C. Halpern - Leslie C. Halpern, Romantic Films/Comedies Topic Editor, authored Passionate About Their Work, Reel Romance, & Dreams on Film.
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