Earlier this year, Ben Stiller starred in Noah Baumbach's most recent film, Greenberg. In it, we saw Stiller play a character that he'd never really tried before: an unlikeable asshole. Some critics praised him, other critics hated it, but regardless, it was a bold move for an actor who built his career on making audiences laugh. Now it seems Stiller wants to go further down the rabbit hole.
The Hollywood Reporter says Stiller is eying a part in Baumbach's next project, While We're Young - to be produced by Scott Rudin - alongside James Franco and Cate Blanchett. Supposedly, While We're Young will be a more accessible film than Greenberg. THR states that the "story centers on a free-spirited couple who have an impact on a documentarian and his wife, getting the latter duo to loosen up."
While We're Young is still in very early stages, so all of this news is tentative and depends on how things unfold over the next few months. But, if it ends up being true and we see Stiller, Fanco, and Blanchett all in the same film under the direction of Baumbach, there's a good chance it could be one of the most original flicks to come out of Hollywood in a long while. Will we like it? Who knows. Baumbach's films tend to be divisive, but in a time when movies like Knight and Day make piles upon piles of cash at the box office, maybe it's time to show people there's more to movies than Tom Cruise defying the laws of physics.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter