It’s a Focker-Byrnes reunion!
Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo and director Jay Roach gathered for the twenty fifth anniversary of “Meet the Dad and mom,” a comedy of errors about male nurse Greg Focker (Stiller) who endures a number of painfully awkward hijinx whereas visiting his girlfriend’s mother and father for the primary time. De Niro performs Polo’s character’s father Greg Byrnes, a cat-loving retired CIA agent who guidelines with a properly that means (possibly?) however iron fist. They reunited at Manhattan’s Tribeca Performing Arts Middle as a part of this yr’s Tribeca Pageant, which was co-founded by De Niro and Jane Rosenthal in 2002.
“It’s a lot enjoyable to listen to laughter in a theater with comedy that’s 25 years previous,” Stiller mentioned in the course of the Q&A after the screening. “It nonetheless works.”
Although 1 / 4 century has handed since “Meet the Dad and mom,” Stiller finds that audiences proceed to affiliate him with Greg Focker. He jokes that he doesn’t at all times love when folks within the wild deal with him by his character’s title.
“When somebody yells ‘Focker!’ on the road, it doesn’t essentially really feel respectful,” Stiller mentioned with amusing. “Each time I’m handled by a male nurse,” he added, “I really feel a connection.”
On stage, Roach reminded Stiller that he was virtually by no means within the film. Steven Spielberg was in talks to direct the movie with Jim Carrey because the lead function. When the duo selected to depart the undertaking, Roach was employed because the filmmaker and Stiller because the star.
“[Jim Carrey] was going to be me?” Stiller mentioned. “Shit. I completely forgot that half.”
In the meantime, Polo joined the solid as the higher half of Stiller’s fiancée-to-be on the final minute. “It was actually late within the casting course of, just a few days earlier than we began capturing,” Roach recalled. “She was thrown into it with these heavyweights.”
Polo joked that she spent your complete shoot “simply sitting there, listening and reacting” to the ensemble round her. She remembers De Niro telling her that he doesn’t method comedy any in another way than he would a drama.
“He mentioned, ‘It’s the identical factor, It’s the truthfully during which you say the road. You’re not making an attempt to be humorous. You say it and actually imply it,’” Polo mentioned.
“Meet the Dad and mom” was a industrial hit, grossing greater than $330 million worldwide towards a $55 million funds. The foursome returned for 2004’s sequel “Meet the Fockers,” which launched Greg’s mother and father (Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman) who memorably taught audiences of the household’s lavatory coverage: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down.” A 3rd film, 2010’s “Little Fockers,” was critically panned however managed to earned $310 million on the field workplace.
Now, the “Meet the Dad and mom” universe is increasing once more. A fourth film is in growth with Ariana Grande among the many new solid members. Stiller teased the fourquel, saying they wanted an “natural motive” to revisit these characters.
“What spurred the thought is that I’m the age that Bob was after we did the primary film,” Stiller mentioned. “It felt like a mirror to the primary movie, the place one in all my children is considering introducing his individual to the household.”
Although they didn’t share any plot particulars, De Niro revealed he’s learn the screenplay. “The script is actually enjoyable,” he shared. “I’m trying ahead to it.”
The truth is, De Niro claims he’s been pushing for one more sequel for years now. “After we filmed the final one,” he mentioned, “I used to be sitting with Ben and [screenwriter] John Hamburg. I mentioned, ‘Let’s begin writing the subsequent one now.’ And so they have been simply humoring me. Now we’re lastly doing the subsequent one.”