BEN STILLER ON BARBRA STREISAND

Ben Stiller joined many others in paying tribute to Barbra at the Chaplin Award ceremonies in New York last week:

This is a little known fact. I had to cold call Barbra Streisand to get her to do “Meet the Fockers.” The director, Jay Roach, said he talked to her and she was on the fence and he asked me to try and persuade her ... So I called and a few months later when Barbra eventually returned, it was weird—I was talking to Barbra Streisand. So I broke the ice by telling her that “The Main Event” was better than “Raging Bull.” She agreed. Then she asked me why she should do it—why she should do “Fockers,” you know? It's not really easy to give Barbra Streisand career advice. Just ask Donna Karan. So I finally resorted to bending the truth a little bit and telling her that I was the world's biggest “Funny Girl” fan. I said I knew every song, I had posters on my wall as a kid. I even played “Nate Arnstein” in high school ...Then she told me it was “Nick.” And I said I was confusing it with “Guys and Dolls.” And then she said ‘What are you talking about?’ And I pretended it was bad cell reception and I hung up on her.
But, finally we worked out the creative details—or as she calls it, money. Luckily she did it and I'm very proud to have worked with her.
Barbra, you're an incredible director, you're an incredible person, you're a force of nature, and I'm very happy I'm your cinematic son.